#it's not an attack on viewers that needs to be 'justified'

[neosatsuma]

the izzy obituary going around on twitter is. i’m sorry. the funniest thing i’ve ever seen

[tocomplainfriend]

It feels less like you want to address a real life problem to characters, but more like you want to have another of your characters you constantly baby and want others to fangirl over.

TW: Rape, SA, Racism, Stereotyping, Homophobia, Acephobia, Arophobia.

The representations of topics in media DOES affect real people.

Fiction can affect reality.

Let's start easy, Jaws. This goes back to Hazbin I promise.

"Since the release of Jaws in 1975, the world has witnessed a staggering decline of 71% in shark and ray populations, and around 100 million sharks are killed each year." (including multiple practices of mass hunting sharks in competition)

Both Steven Spielberg and the original writer Peter Benchley regret the movie and book. It's a big reason of the shark treatment, when it started by old fishermen worrying about shark biting people in the beaches they made money of.

Even if you aren't a shark killer yourself, a lot of things you believe of sharks are untrue myths that come from making sharks "evil" human killer animals. Sharks cannot smell blood from miles away, that's not even how water works, the particles of blood need to enter their nostrils. Sharks are not man eaters, they attack other prey animals before human. Shark attacks are extremely rare, even if they happen they are not justifiable to kill all sharks.

Sharks actually have personalities they can fit in, they are smart and recognize people and boats- and form positive relationships with people. They can even like getting pet by people.

Other level to represent other thing sin media that affects reality we can address Queer, representation as a topic.

I hope it is not a surprise for you... possible non-straight, non-cis person reading this. That the constant representation of gay man as kid predator is a problem. They used old commercial (PSA) to spread negative views of gay man. Media is used to spread messages and affect its viewer. This is, there are cartoons created by Jehovah witness (or similar religions) to spread their beliefs and teach to their children in an easy, digestible way.

Same with the amount of straight woman that went off to read shitty yaoi manga and fetishy gay wattpad stories, and went to sexualize and diminish queer men. Constantly making gay man's personality into bottom or top (uke and seme shit). I witness this irl, others have too.

Same with shitty men that view Lesbians as a porn machine for men, cause "monkey brain like woman, lesbian = two women". Which happens in general and adult media. All of these are EASY examples.

Another one which turns out many people don't think about. Having your representation of an AroAce character (on purpose or not) be the psychopath with no feelings. Associating the not being romantically or sexually to means you have no heart, to be abnormal, by then a psychopath. An abuse or serial killer.

Fiction does affect reality-

A racist film, 'Birth of the nation' Revived the KKK and let to all the discrimination, and the homicide of black people of centuries ahead.

-

Coming back around, how you treat the topic of SA, and r-pe- affects the real world. You would think someone who wrote that, had in mind on how that affects people in real life. Didn't you want to represent victims of SA/R-pe that are sex workers and male?

Reducing the r-pist, pimp, trafficker character to an air head to treat as silly is crazy to do. Specially as... oh idk... the creator? Both this and the tweet of the voice actor calling Val "Bubbles Coded" is so crazy. The character is also not deep enough by itself, it's pretty much Stupid and a R-pist sex trafficker. The tweet below Viv's fucking kills me too.

The fact Val is shown to be air head stupid doesn't delete he backed Angel (and by being a sex trafficker and a pimp, and him licking charlie that means he has multiple victims) into a corner and under his control. Too then abuse of him in many different ways. Manipulations are not only done by Super mastermind people, and representing it in such way diminished, affects people who have being manipulated and actually try to question if they have being or not. Manipulators can be normal, average people, they usually are not obvious. Even if Val is openly a shitty person that's really obvious, it doesn't detract from him being manipulative to people. The scene where Val threatens him in chains that is manipulation, his text messages are manipulation (even if you think it is too obvious to be successful).

How you represent SA/R-PE, and its perpetrators, do affect real life.

Going around and having your "serious R-pe episode", to then go in other episodes or the other series you are writing to make r-pe/sa jokes is terrible. For the person that directed the whole scene of poison to NOT be r-pe/sa victim (said by themselves) with a r-pe fetish with this character's in specific, to directed in the most graphic way possible is awful. To go around babying your r-pist character is crazy.

Hope you understand that this doesn't mean not treating any topic at all. Creators should be awere on how they treat topics and the scenarios they create with them, too. People and viewers need to also put their brain to understand the media they consume. But you can't always put all blame only on the viewers of a series, if media is messy is a fault of the media. You can criticize both.

You need to acknowledge Valentino is indeed a terrible person, You don't need to delete his actions or the weight of them.

I also just know that a lot of Val fans just like him to draw him in r-pe art and get their fetishized gay ship. Cause that's what they are into. You won't even do that with a woman, because you are into your fucked up fetishized gay porn from wattpad you never left behind.

If you like him, FUCK IT, just please take his abuse seriously. Don't default your entire usage, and view of the character to be 'uwufied' fandom stuff, please.

I hate how the topic has being treated, in and out of the show. I'm a victim, and I'm hurt by how these things are treated and knowing how it affects others. Even in things I haven't watched! Don't make the argument don't like it? Just don't watch it. The movies from the video of SA of men being a joke, many I haven't watch- that still affects over all. It's still a problem and it's disheartening.

Also have this:

[lemotmo]

https://www.tumblr.com/lemotmo/763616782414233600/heyyalet-me-start-by-saying-i-am-pretty-sure

Let me start this with absolutely no hate whatsoever to the original Anon. This is not anything personal against them in anyway. Nor am I saying they are guilty of any of this. This post just happens to be about the subject matter lol. That said….

I do wish people would give the GA a little more credit instead of just running with the mind set of “Oh the Ga has no idea about anything happening”

Like do they read into every single thing and theorize and what not like the fandom does? Absolutely not. But they do still see what we see and they do still ship and make guesses and theories. It’s just not posted online.

But Buddie, The Buckley Diaz family. None of that is new. I know I’m going to sound like some of the other fandom when I say this but.. there are plenty of GA viewers who root for them to get together and become a family. Just look at the actual outcry at the end of season 6 when even they felt like the show was messing with the Buckley Diaz family and they did not take it well. But to get them to that together and a family, that would require both of them being queer which is not something that would just skip their minds.

They watch the same show as us as well. And like you pointed out in your response, they saw the Eddie has panic attacks with Ana. They saw the break up. They saw the entire disaster of Eddie and Marisol. The issues he had with her. They saw the scene of dating feels like a performance. Just like all this. They also saw the buddie moments and Buckley Diaz moments in between all of that where Eddie had none of those problems. Where Buck had none of the problems he had/has with his LI’s.

And take these articles coming out. Entertainment Weekly. Entertainment Tonight, etc etc. those are sites/magazines/stations geared more towards the older crowd which is where more of the GA falls. So they are seeing and reading those. Their social media algorithms will also be playing a role and showing them related things.

Just because they don’t delve into specific things like fandom doesn’t mean they don’t see it and engage with it. And that’s also not to say yes there are times when the GA will need something hand fed to them before they can grasp the concept of it. But at this point? After 7 years? Queer Eddie and Buddie is not one of them they need hand fed to them anymore. And it sometimes feels like people try and hide behind this outdated mindset of GA being clueless in order to justify their fears of certain things not happening.

I do get your point Nonny. It's true, Buddie has been around long enough now for the GA to at least have some awareness of what could potentially happen between them.

There will always be people crying out that 'not every male friendship needs to be gay'. 🙄 But a big part of the GA knows that this show is very inclusive, with Henren and bi Buck right there. Eddie being something else but straight shouldn't come too much out of left field to them.

[spxdyr]

i see a lot of 9-1-1 fans (justifiably) hate the parents of 9-1-1 and the show trying to give them a redemption arc, and while i can see where you are ALL coming from and don't think you're wrong, i just see it a little different.

(this is coming from someone who currently isn't speaking with their parents for the most part and doesn't think that'll change anytime soon):

i don't see it as redemption. i don't see it as the writers asking us as viewers to forgive their (buckley or diaz) parents. i don't even think its the characters themselves trying to forgive their parents. i think its two (parent/child) groups of adults doing what they can to rectify their relationships for the sake of either another person or their own future relationships.

the buckleys for example. i don't think buck has forgiven (or the writers have asked us to forgive on behalf of behalf of buck) his parents. i think he is trying to move forward with his future relationships without the weight of the anger he has for his parents on him. i also think its his (and maddie's) choice/desire for jee-yun to have grandparents. the understanding/hope (while sour) that they will (try) to be better for her than they were for either of them. the therapy (for all parties) was just the way to rectify that, to get to a point where it was easier to be in a room together. not for their sake, but for jee's.

the diaz's are similar. i don't think eddie believes (or even needs) his relationship with his parents to be perfect. i don't think he needs them to change completely. or expected it. i think he's doing what he can to rectify his relationship with them for chris. because he does everything for chris (at least for what he thinks chris needs) its is fatal flaw. he kept that door open so that chris would have a safe space outside of him. so that chris was never isolated in their relationship. much like eddie (probably) was in his with his own parents.

i think what many view as redemption is just adults doing what they can to be best for their child(children), for themselves. i think its understanding that your found family is those you rely on, your born family is those that someone else might. its understanding that their relationships with their parents isn't the end all be all when it comes to the fact that their parents, like them, are people. people who will have an affect on someone else, someone probably close to them.

buck, maddie, eddie, and even chim, know what its like to only have their parents and no one else that loves them unconditionally, that they can run to when their parents just aren't good enough. none of them want to do that to their respective children. they want all of them to have a safe space outside of them, even if their parents weren't that for them. but they also know who their parents are, they want their children to know that its a choice. they (the children) will have the chance to choose their family too, just a lot earlier on.

anyway sorry for my rant. im in ZERO way trying to attack anyone who sees it as redemption and i understand why you hate it. im just yk trying to offer a different perspective.

[donkeys-waffles]

(This is so long, but it almost wraps up my thoughts on the most recent chapter. You've been warned. This is also in no way trying to justify AFO's current actions, I'm just over-analyzing the demon baby's childhood and how that turned into the adult demon we see today :>)

Something else I found interesting about the leaks. Baby AFO is killing people, I'm assuming for reasons of survival, either from those people being threats or they have something he needs.

But something that's really been on my mind lately is a child's perspective on death.

Children learn to love and fear different concepts by parental figures in their life, or adults in general really. It's like a pack complex, they see others react a certain way to their environment and learn how to react as a result. Children really learn how to human from other adults, which deeply shapes their view of themselves and the world around them.

But another concept that is taught to children is the concept of death... Children learn that mortality exists, and that it is something to be afraid of... By adults...

But two orphans that raised themselves in an apocalyptical society, from what we can tell from birth, they didn't have adults around to teach them anything, let alone that people do die and that it's a bad thing. At least they didn't have that during some of their most pivotal developmental years.

We see AFO as a monster, a child born evil, but for 1. We see this from a what could be considered the most unreliable narrator. 2. We don't see how he started killing, what made him start? The scenes we've seen thus far could be the first murders, but do we have evidence that it really was.

Baby Afo is so young at this point that his idea of death is a very limited one. Normally, we really start to process death and what it truly means at around 10, maybe. But he's very young here. It's possible he was attacked and so he attacked until the threat stopped moving. He was so young he may not have ever truly understood the gravity of what he had done until he grew older and was desensitized to it. Or maybe he was a hungry child with his feeble brother, who didn't know how to get any food. He wasn't given any help from the adults, possibly even paralleling Tenko. But he saw adults attacking other adults and getting food as a result. So, he followed their lead, like a child would mimic a parent, and he got a reward for him and his brother, food. Children have a large pleasure/pain complex, if their needs aren't met, they are often impatient until they receive what they want or need and can't emotionally regulate like adults can (another thing taught to them by adults). He doesn't understand that he is killing these people, he just knows he needs to stop them as a threat (either to protect him and his brother or feed him and his brother,) make sure they stop moving so they can't hurt him. It's also possible he wants to steal their quirks, something flashy, another part of the reward complex in his brain and his barely contained kleptomania.) And mind you, much of this is talking about normal human children... Not children with meta-abilities which are looking more like parasitic diseases with each new update. (Diseases that control the host and deeply influences their actions, mannerisms, and behavior. Also, something I will probably go on another rant about, let's be honest.)

Another interesting thing is this is from AFO's point of view. And all I've been seeing is that "AFO was born evil," or commenting on how horrifying AFO looked like as a child.

If this is how All for One sees himself... Well, that makes sense why he's such a damn bastard today. Not even as an infant did, he give himself the grace of looking like a normal child. We, the viewer is meant to see him as evil from birth, because that is how AFO sees himself. It's so interesting because one could even argue that AFO isn't happy, doesn't view himself as someone who has a heart or compassion. It's like because the villain in the comic book reminded him of himself, he's modeled himself to be like the villain, someone without care, someone who doesn't love. With Yoichi's death, we get a panel of the original shock, the remorse, and that progresses to the blank, empty, look in his eyes with tears falling down his face. He's always seen himself as the villain and refuses to recognize that he is indeed human. Which obviously from a DFO perspective makes sense in a truly heartbreaking way.

But I just can't get over how he views himself, it's creepy, unsettling, almost like he's afraid of himself. Like he views himself in the way his own victims view him. But someone who I always imagined views himself like a god, who's always in the right (he does believe he's always right,) I was expecting more emphasis on everything he did for his brother, the nicer clothes, he didn't look malnourished while AFO did, things like that. Or maybe a normal looking child (or hell even an unrealistically majestic child, or something.) the parts of himself that showed power, without the unexplained murder we got. I was expecting an attempt to prove how he was in the right, how he was trying to protect his brother. Emphasize the anger he still feels at losing him. But no, from what I can tell it's mainly the evil things he's done, with a small glimpse of them reading together. It lacks the depth, like he wants to appear flat instead of completely multidimensional. And honestly, that's IF he's being honest, which in and of itself is unlikely. But with how he's illustrated himself, you can look at it two ways, it's even more likely that he'd start a family, or it's less likely, because he was born evil and all he's cares about is possessing OFA/his bother. His backstory just gives me the vibe that he WANTS you to believe the second. Like he WANTS you to believe he's not human, and could never have a son, or at the least never care for any child he'd have.

He's trying too hard to prove how evil he is, how almost incapable of care or remorse he is. I'm skeptical.

But honestly, I think if this little story of his is true then... I think he should be locked in a museum. Looking at who he is, how he views himself and the world, illustrates the Dawn of Quirks in a way no Hero History book could. He was raised by a society that hated him for his quirk, honestly like most villains in BNHA.

[depressed-teacup-inc]

It’s the way derision is a legitimately awful episode for me

Hello, Hey, how y’all doing, I’m still grieving Luka, And it’s time for another miraculous episode review!

And lord I fucking hate this one!!!

So Marinette and Adrien go on pool date, and Marinette keeps having panic attacks over it, until she’s almost akumatized and has to dig deep in memory lane to not get Akumatized (and this is where the majority of this episode takes place)

So. I hate this with all my heart! This motherfucking show. Really just said “yeah guys, so all of Marinette’s creepy stalker behavior? Yeah guys it’s Chloe and Kim’s fault she’s like this it’s trauma and therefore she’s fine!”

…so let’s unpack this.

With Chloe, this is nothing new, the show keeps demonizing her and taking away from any nuance or chance she has at redemption, and the show needs us to some reason believe that Chloe (and Lila) is worse then the little abusive father terrorist in this show! Because they are probably planning on making her the next Lila in the show as Lila becomes Hawkmoth!

To the fucking point they decided to take her bullying from random mean comments and hun on a sit in season one, To fucking roaches in lockers and panic attacks!

And before you ask, no I don’t believe that every single character needs to be redeemed and complex (some people really do just suck) but the show takes that to an extremist degree! The show needs viewers to believe Chloe is more evil then literal monarch because if she got a redemption or had dimension (as she had in season 2) marinette by comparison looks awful and creepy!

To put a long analysis short, I don’t hate Chloe for being bitchy because I think everyone should be complex, I hate her for being bitchy because the show only does this to make marinette look like a saint in comparison, to the point that they will make child abusers look better then her, just so marinette can stay “the good guy”.

Now for Kim… THIS MOTHERFUCKING SHOW!!!

“Oh yeah kids ever wondered why marinette broke into Adrien’s house, harassed him, sniffed him, stole his schedule and personally belongings and information, hurt anyone that was a rival to her, broke into his house on multiple occasions, and literally got so many people akumatize from her selfish behavior? It’s because she was traumatized by Kim, who’s suddenly cruel, and it’s all Chloe’s fault!”

ThIS SHOW. LITERALLY BLAMED EVERY SINGLE WRING THING MARINETTE EVER DID (WHICH INCLUDES LITERAL LAWS BEING BROKEN AND SOME SHIT THATS ON CHLOES LEVEL OF BAD) ON “Yeah guys she has trauma PTSD, it’s all Chloe’s fault hehe”

And it’s just… so fucking upsetting!

Not only did the show demonize Kim (and everyone is just fucking buying it) out of nowhere to be this asshole (this is not the misguided himbo I know and love and I fucking hate it) the show basically erased every mistake marinette ever made under the guise of trauma, when it’s so fucking unfair and biased!

Like, by the show’s logic, if Marinette is justified for all the literal crimes she committed because of trauma, why not Chloe? You can easily just argue that her mom not being there is justification to committing literal crimes!

But the show won’t do that, because Marinette needs to be the good guy and can’t be wrong.

The show had to literally demonize and change characters entirely (boy in Lila episodes and specifically this episode) just to absolve marinette of any fault, and it’s just bad writing!!! The show doesn’t want to admit that marinette is frankly an awful person and will morph the plot around her to prove it!

Because reality is? Shit isn’t black and white! Even if marinette had this awful experience (which I will not minimize) it doesn’t justify the constant hurting and awful things she did to others, just like Chloe’s extremely bad childhood doesn’t justify her hurting and bullying others!

The show yet again just demonized and morphed the plot and characters to justify marinette, in order to make sure she’s always good and always in the right, so that they don’t have to change anything about the story, so they can drag on this show forever to make lots of money.

And frankly? I’m fucking tired of it.

(Also Adrien is officially nothing more then love interest, he’s out-of-character threatening murder on Kim because “marinette deserves people will kill for herrrr”)

[ultimatefartwizard]

EARTHSPARK MESSAGES AND SUBTEXT THATS NOT EVEN SUBTEXT

It's been a while since I have posted as I've been busy with finals, but I saw a post that absolutely made me spur a headache with just how utterly fatuous of a take I saw on Transformers Earthspark and the messages it sends.

DISCLAIMER: DO NOT USE THIS POST TO ATTACK OR HARASS ANYONE, THIS IS ONLINE DISCUSSION OF A WORK OF MEDIA.

THIS ALSO COVERS SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1 OF EARTHSPARK, IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SUCH A TOPIC PLEASE REDIRECT YOURSELF.

@monocle-teacup Won't repost your post as the way tumblr reposts works would have everything funnel onto your account, but I'll be pinging you and I did screenshot your post for viewer's context:

I have ALOT to talk about here, while also being completely in shock and disbelief how you end up BELEIVING THE SIDE THAT IS A GENOCIDAL LUNATIC WHO SEES THE TRANSFORMERS AS SUBHUMAN AND A DISEASE ON THE EARTH??? AND IS WILLING TO FULL ASS MURDER AND MUTILATE PEOPLE? From here any * you may see is likely a footnote mark to check details I put at the end for clarity. If I miss something, let me know and I will clarify.

Before I get into the meat of dissecting your clearly ill-informed and definitely not thoroughly thought out post, I need to get something out of the way because I believe you'll use this as a means of shielding yourself from incoming critique: It's okay to like and enjoy characters who are clearly bad people. There is a CLEAR difference between enjoying a fictional character and agreeing with whatever they might do or say. I enjoy many bad and morally reprehensible characters, including Mandroid/Doctor Meridian, but that doesn't mean I agree with them or don't find their actions and ideas deplorable. If you find yourself agreeing with someone who sees another group of people* as being subhuman or a danger to society you need to reconsider your ideologies and thought processes. Like ASAP.

Okay onto the actual deconstruction of your statements, why they are blatantly lacking a thorough reading of the messages in Earthspark, or even lead into uncomfortably ignorant territories both with Transformers and very real-life, human related things.

As a first point, you state that you hope this show re-examines the fact that hatred towards another group of people (even if they are fictional) automatically makes them a terrible person, and bring up the statement that the show makes GHOST's detainment of transformers look "cartoonishly evil" but does absolutely nothing to address Dr.Meridian's statements of transformers being dangerous.

Yes. Yes it ABSOLUTELY DOES address that throughout the entire show. In fact, the whole season is literally about deconstructing the notion that BOTH Dr.Meridian's and GHOST's ideals and methods are harmful if not downright discriminatory towards transformers as a whole.

GHOST's method of control is a guise under the US government by detaining any transformer they deem as "a threat", this can even mean autobots or non-aligned transformers who don't want to join their organization or are just doing their own thing. They will willingly classify them all as "Decepticons" to justify their inhumane treatment of them. This is paralleling how humans will stereotype and conflate other groups of people, as being all associated with one singular event or organization of people that is seen as bad or a danger to society* and use that stereotyped ideal to weaponize it against them and justify harming them in multiple ways; which is what Dr.Meridian ALSO DOES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SHOW. Dr.Meridian is a scientist that literally works with and is a huge provider of technology to GHOST, he literally works with them and experiments on the detained transformers. You can't say "oh GHOST bad Dr.Mer not so bad" when he's LITERALLY PART OF GHOST AND YOU CANNOT SEPARATE THEM. HE IS EXTREME AND OUTSPOKEN ABOUT HIS HATRED THROUGHOUT THE SHOW AND ACTIVELY IS SHOWN TO BE ENTIRLEY IN THE WRONG BOTH IDEOLOGICALLY AND ACTION WISE. You clearly have not watched with a critical eye if you think they never address his points or somehow he is right about something. He never is and it shows just how harmful his mentality is. You don't even need words spoken out loud to know he's ALREADY HEINOUSLY WRONG AND BIGOTED.

Why should the show, one that shows transformers having to battle against racist and xenophobic hatred towards them from humans, re-examine that relationship? People are being discriminatory to people they don't like, and to them it doesn't matter if they are decepticon or not; they're all the same and dangerous in their eyes. Yes, there was a war brought onto earth's soil from pure happenstance of where the Ark and members of the two named groups had landed, and yes it was bloody and many lives were lost like any war is. Should the war, as well as atrocious acts of violence by a few and the circumstance that which the birth and type of being transformers are deem all transformers as dangerous? OBVIOUSLY FUCKING NOT. That's literally stereotyping. That's what Dr.Meridian is doing. He's literally grouped them all into one conglomerate in his head and sees them all as pests to be exterminated.

The transformers are both immigrants and refugees of war that had lasted thousands of millions of years and a desperate attempt to find any source of energon because they would STARVE TO DEATH IF THEY DIDN'T AND RESOURCES WERE DANGEROUSLY SCARCE ON CYBERTRON. They are thousands of lightyears away from home in a place that doesn't have the cultures they are familiar with and structures built for them which accommodates their needs. And to add onto it, most were never originally outfitted with guns and shit. They had to ARM THEMSELVES TO PROTECT AGAINST ATTACKS. JUST BECAUSE YOU SEE A GUN POP OUT OF THEIR BODY DOESN'T MEAN THEY ARE BUILT LIKE THAT NOR DOES IT MEAN THEY ARE AUTOMATICALLY ALL DANGEROUS. The only ones who are theoretically "built for war/violence" are war-frames like seekers, but they didn't even CHOOSE THAT LIFE OR WANT IT! THEY ARE COLD CONSTRUCTED* AND LITERALLY ENSLAVED INTO BEING CANON FODDER FOR WHATEVER SKERMISH THEY ARE DEEMED NEEDED FOR. Starscream wasn't even a warrior before this, he was just some nerd ass scientist. Cold constructed bots and War-frames are already deemed subhuman by other transformers. The entire war that you see is a continual millions of years struggle which the origins are in a fight against their own horrible systematic oppressions to try and bring freedom and put an end to the horrible reign back on Cybertron. How does them being robot organisms displaced by ongoing war, a continual brutal and bloody struggle for freedom back at home, and dangerous resource scarcity make them any more dangerous than your average person? And the "they are robots/walking death machines" argument doesn't count because you're only seeing them from a nonhuman lense in that case. Take off those nuts and bolts covered glasses and think of how this would be if they were all humans instead. The visuals of only seeing them for their robotics are blocking your ability to view this group as simply a mirroring of humans in nonhuman bodies. Humans are just as dangerous and ostracizing as them. Literally humans slaughter other humans frequently; bring upon hatred and obscene actions onto one another with or without robotic attachments and aid of machines. Just because the transformers are robotic extraterrestrials who are "different biologically/mechanically" makes it no different from the dehumanization and other forms of racism and xenophobia. Transformers are literally just... humans in a robot shell. You can't argue against this at all because most if not all have human forms, ALL of them have human minds, and just happen to come from a planet they need to be insanely large sized on, as well as already pre-armed due to conflict that they have escaped from.

The whole story of Earthspark is LITERALLY about the experiences of the Terrans; first generation descendants of immigrant refugees navigating the struggles that come with being just that. They make whole episodes surrounding their feelings of alienation and their struggle to have a place in the world, their culture and history and who they are. They want to feel they belong and feel they have a place in this world and be seen just as human and belonging as their human family. Their government and the world around them alienates them and treats them sub-humanly despite them being just as human, flaws and all, as us. Since I'm praddling on about this topic, did you even ABSORB ANY OF THE EPISODES HOME PART 1 AND 2???? IT'S ABOUT THIS TOPIC AND TEACHES HOW THIS MENTALITY OF TREATING THE TRANSFORMERS AS SUBHUMAN ALIENS THAT NEED TO GO AWAY OR NEED TO BE CLASSIFIED AS DANGEROUS/A INVASIVE "SPECIES" THAT NEEDS TO BE REMOVED IS BAD. IT SHOWS THE RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA THAT ESPECIALLY COMES WITH BEING CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS AND THE ISOLATION THEY FACE.

Please, I heavily implore you to go back and watch them. You somehow miss the entire point of the show and ESPECIALLY this episode. Many episodes cover different points of their existence as first gen children and the reality that the transformers have to face in general while being refugees on a planet with others being hostile and degrading to them but this particular episode is the one that tackles the points I make in this post the most. It may not go super deep into it due to forced time constraints and other executive nonsense that makes it harder to go into more detail but it still covers the topic very well.

Humans getting nipped at the heels for being bigoted towards transformers isn't some "ouugh you can't think the decepticons did bad things" type of nonsense and I absolutely hate the "oh because you can't be bigoted towards a group of people it means you suddenly can't criticize the actions of someone who happens to be someone of that group" mentality you seem to be concocting out of thin air. It's them associating the entire race of transformers as all bad, unbelonging or worthy of being seen as dangerous and to be wary around them or like they need to not be on earth and "go back where they came from". You go between "decepticons" and "transformers" interchangeably and seem to do exactly as the show heeds against heavily; conglomerating the actions of a FEW to encompass the overall worthiness of a WHOLE POPULATION OF PEOPLE.

Doctor Meridian is wrong and genuinely evil and disturbing with how he treats them and him seeing them as dangerous and a pest needing to be eradicated nor should any of his views be agreed upon, no matter how much you may try to defend him. There's more I could add but for simplicity's sake but that's what I mainly will state. The rest of clarity can be discussed in the comments.

I'm not sure whether your lack of understanding of the show and its messaging you are discussing or your love for one of the major villains is clouding your judgement, but please read EVERYTHING here to its fullest extent. Nothing here is intended as an attack on your character (if you're somehow seeing it that way) but as a heavy critique of your views on this show and how you are analyzing things. I might sound like I'm yapping to yap or "it's not that deep", but it literally is. The show and it's writing make it a big point and I will refuse to accept any iteration of "you're making a mountain out of a molehill" type statements. If you have any questions or comments you're free to bring them up.

-With confusion and annoyance, Wizard.

-Footnotes- *By group of people, I refer to sapient (human minded) beings who are grouped by either race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, etc. By this classification, Transformers are considered a group of people; even if they are "nonhuman" *If you are somehow seriously confused or appalled by me pointing out real world racism and xenophobia as parallels to what is being done by GHOST, Dr. Meridian, and your average run of the mill civilian, you need to reread absolutely everything. Racism and xenophobia are a huge talking point in the show and I refuse to retract this statement. *Cold Constructed means the transformer was made in a factory, more often than not to be a worker slave for whoever is demanding they be produced. Two characters off the top of my head who are cold constructed is Starscream and Megatron.

[angelfirstclass]

Damn, I guess I was a Magneto apologist. Is it me or did the writers make me do it?

Ok, Ok I wrote a rant about how I was disappointed in the X-men and was seemingly Team Magneto, but I have come to realize that it was a step too far if it is leading to planet wide destruction and poles reversing and nuclear fallout and etc etc. If it's THAT extreme, then yes I walk back my blank support of Magneto, but I am still on Magneto's side as to feeling he was right and wondering where the line in the sand is.

Also, me having these feelings is the writers fault- they made Magneto sympathetic and wrote the story line to specifically get people to be on the fence with Magneto and not have him be a cut and dried bad guy. He adopts the X-men, walks Xavier's path at times unwillingly, and was even tempered even during the trial or after Storm lost her powers. He might have been able to be reasoned after Genosha, too, but being kidnapped, tortured, and his fellow mutants threatened by Prime Sentinels was too much.

In the X-men movies, Magneto is less sympathetic because he hurts innocent humans and sometimes neutral and innocent mutants as well in the name of his cause. In the first movie, he almost kills Rogue in the name of Mutant supremacy. It's despicable. That's where the X-men draw the line and are justified in being against him. Even knowing his past and the reasons for the way he is, readers and the audience can not condone him choosing violence. But in this version, it's different- the writers chose to make Magneto an anti-hero and set up his eventual choice as either inevitable or even justified. The previous episode had a character claim "Magneto was right" and made many viewers feel that way, too.

In this version, Magnus is not a monster. He may have doomed the planet, but he offers the X-men sanctuary and a choice. Where I find myself disappointed in the X-men is the way they don't lead a search party to find Magneto before the Sentinel/EMP incident, don't offer any gratitude to being saved by Magneto from the Sentinels, and instantly goes into attack mode. Like I realize what he did was wrong, but as a team member you would think there would be some misgivings or hesitation based on friendship and respect, but no it's immediately Oh, yeah I knew you were awful the entire time and good riddance.

I am waiting to see the next episode and the finale and hope there are things in there to make things make sense, but right now I'm just confused. I realize the world is complex and has grey areas, but I honestly would have been more satisfied if Magneto was a straight up bad guy and met his end or if Bastion was the only bad guy and though they didn't agree on everything worked as a team. This story line currently is one where Magneto is not bad nor good, is meant to be somewhat sympathetic, but in the end if I have it correctly completely extreme and genocidal. It breaks up the X-men and causes a schism when they need to be strong together and is morally confusing for the viewer. Not sure one episode is enough to tie everything together, but I shall wait and see.

[real-life-senshi]

10 (Mostly) Spoiler-Free Reasons to Watch Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 2003 Live Action

A countdown to the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Reason 5: The captivating story!

Ultimately, I would say the live-action stayed true to the essence and intention of the original source material when concerning the Dark Kingdom arc.

I’m choosing to use the word “essence” though, because it is also factual that in multiple aspects, the story does diverge from its source material, but with the intention of further amping up the stakes and angst for drama, and possibly even pulling in elements from story arcs beyond the manga’s Dark Kingdom arc into the one season we (sadly) only have.

Sometimes those differences could be due to limitations of CGI and execution methods in real-life filming, while others could be due to updating the content to appeal to the newer generations of viewers in the early 2000s.

Regardless of what's faithful or not faithful to original source material, I think PGSM did really well striking a balance of making it a kid’s show, and also adding some complexities to appeal to viewers who were kids or teenagers that grew up reading the manga or watching the '90s anime, who would be in their late teens or adulthood or even parenthood by the time the live-action aired.

Warning: Going forward these series of posts will contain minor spoilers to introduce some live-action only elements. It will only be at the introductory level though!

Staying true and delving deeper into source materials

Personally, I can’t speak much to the ’90s anime, but I can confirm the live-action pulls many elements from the manga source material where possible. Here are just a few:

Introducing the Sailor Senshi!

The story of how Usagi and Ami discovered their Senshi power largely follows the same story, while Rei and Makoto's intro episodes heavily reference the original manga chapter and use the same theme behind the attacks that lead to them accessing their transformation. There's no magic bus to whisk victims away in Rei's case, and there's no wedding dress ghost story in Makoto's, probably due to the feasibility of recreating those scenes.

The Forbidden Love & the Past Life lore

The live-action definitely deep-dived into the 'forbidden love' concept when it came to Usagi and Mamoru, and further created a whole complexity of the storyline to justify WHY it's forbidden. In the manga/anime, it felt like the idea of their forbidden love was purely political and mostly glossed over since the past life kingdoms were dead, but in the live-action, there were actual stakes and consequences to consider even for the present.

And the ABSOLUTE MOST AMAZING THING and by far my favourite twist to the live-action storyline is they actually ventured into exploring the impact of making teenagers soldiers of war! There is actually ample screen time and dialogues AND monologues dedicated for us to see individual Senshi AND the team together grappling with the pros and cons and exploring both extreme sides of the need to follow the past life mission to avert tragedy regardless of the sacrifices made, versus the necessity of making one's choice and finding ways to live in the present in spite of the past life lore! Do they support Usagi's and Mamoru's love for each other or not???? Do they know for sure whether their love WILL cause misfortune again or not or can they trust Usagi to know what she's doing????? FASCINATING AND ANGSTY STUFF RIGHT THERE!

Rei’s Personality

More as an FYI, but Rei’s personality is much more similar to the manga Rei’s personality, instead of ‘90s anime Rei. More cool beauty and calm, less aggressively hotheaded and abrasive. And very importantly, NOT boy-crazy.

New, original dramatic elements

On the other hand, here are some live-action exclusive dramatic elements that I'd like to highlight:

Aino Minako the idol

Even many who haven't watched the series would have heard about how Minako's character is drastically changed in the live-action. Indeed, Minako is an acclaimed teenage idol and singer with best-selling songs in the show!

It's basically as if the live-action screenwriter pulled in the Outer Senshi elements from the Mugen arc into Minako's character: she's famous, experienced, and serious. Minako has full access to past life knowledge and is ultimately mission-driven like Haruka and Michiru are in the Mugen arc, which causes some of her decisions to maybe not be as morally white as we'd expect her to be (I think her costume style of white and black is a nice nod to the idea of her double life and her sense of moral).

Now, that's not to say live-action Minako is completely a new character, you can certainly see manga/anime Minako's character traits here and there if you pay attention - pun-loving, prank-loving, mischievous. For god's sake, the girl named her album Venus, and one of her most iconic songs is called C'est La Vie, which sounds exactly like "Sailor V" pronounced in Japanese. Just imagine this girl playing a vigilante life, and having a chuckle every time she sings her best-selling song that basically announces her identity to the world and no one realizes. lmao

Basically, Minako's character embodies the extreme result of what happens if a teenager is burdened with all the knowledge of the Past Life war and has the weight on her shoulders while working alone.

If you can get past Minako's changed character setting in the live-action, you'll find there are still plenty of Dark Kingdom arc manga/anime Minako elements in there, just some more exaggerated while others are more subtle. (Coz to be fair, Minako didn't start becoming Usagi's twin until after the Dark Kingdom arc.) And her relationship with Artemis is absolutely heartwarming to see in the live-action.

Who's in the wrong? Who's an ally, and who's not?

While our Senshi team is clearly the heroine, and the Dark Kingdom the villains, the live-action takes a more interesting take on what's considered "good" versus "evil", and more importantly, who's in the wrong on how things ended badly in the past life. Who is actually the person the Senshi needs to protect the world from? And that drives the story into a direction that is more complex than what you'll ever find in manga or anime, and certain characters react accordingly and act more grey than black or white - from both the heroine side and the villain side!

Shitennou & Endymion

Something we didn't really get to see as much in the manga and anime, while we know who the Shitennou are, we don't really see the Shitennou and Mamoru interacting until after they... became their name-sake rocks (okay, technically, GEMS). And we don't get many hints on what their past live relationships were, so for many years fans have taken to pen/paper/tablets/keyboard and filled the gaps with their amazing imagination and creative work instead.

In the live-action, we get a much more expansive and interesting take in seeing the Shitennou - technically still under the Dark Kingdom's influence, interact with Mamoru as they all grapple with what happened in the past life.

How would the prince's ex-guardians act seeing their master again? How would Mamoru react? Choosing to accept his responsibility for his past life or not? After all, they had such fond memories of arm-wrestling each other! (Spoiler alert: Nephrite won.) :P

I must once again emphasize that I love what they did with the Shitennou's characters and gave each of them a different story trajectory. They are written so well they pull at your heartstrings!

If you want some canon-material for writing the Shitennou in the age of Elysion Kingdom, definitely give the live-action a go!

Power up! The Senshi Needs Training

Because the live-action only gets one arc, there's no room for us to see the Senshi team (conveniently) get upgraded transformation like they do in each arc in manga or anime. Instead, the live-action takes a different, and I dare say, a more realistic approach, where the Senshi learns that their initial access to their transformation isn't the full access to their powers as they expected. They are put through some legit, and some questionable training of the body, mind and spirit, and each of them has to overcome something within themselves across the series to access their power!

This approach highlights and solidifies each Senshi's strengths AND ties in really well into the girls' character development throughout the series. As well, it makes it feel like the Senshi did have to put in work to get strong and gain access to their power, instead of relying on the plot to get them new powers at the right opportune time, seemingly out of the blue.

Remember: THEY ARE IN SCHOOL!

Yep, sometimes in the manga and in the anime, it's so easy for us to forget that the Senshi are kids in school when they are in the thick of a crisis or fighting evil. Somehow, it always seems quite clean and convenient that the Senshi could separate their school life and their heroine life, doesn't it? How the responsible adults in the world may wonder... "Gosh, where did that kid go in the middle of [insert context]????" Or for a fellow peer in school to wonder - "How the hell did this random group of girls come together like an odd band?"

The live-action takes time to make room for some reality checks in their episodic storylines to explore all the different repercussions our heroine's double (or triple) life has on their normal life, and with that ties in personable and relevant topics and themes into their episodic plots:

Family relationship

Peer relationship

Romantic relationships

Moments that remind everyone how awkward and tough it is to be a teenager.

The toll of lying through your teeth to keep a secret, etc

I cannot emphasize enough that the screenwriting is superb in the series! Not one thing is referenced only once and left out the window, everything that happened builds up into a moment of learning or lasting impact for our characters!

To people who've not watched the live-action, PLEASE GIVE IT A CHANCE! At least give it 6 episodes, and you'll probably be hooked!

You can watch the subbed versions of the series at:

Miss Dream Fansubs

Sea of Serenity Fansubs

The series is also on other online streaming sites, but be cautious to only visit them with good adware and firewall installed.

6 days till the 20th anniversary of Act 1 air date!

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |

[museofreverie]

Chapter 01 ⋆ The Girl Who Knew

WAYS OF FREEDOM┊Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Modern Fem!Reader ┊2nd POV

In which a chronically online Gen Z that went through the pandemic goes to the Attack on Titan Universe and tries her very best to change the ending with an "I can fix him" mentality.

⋆ CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 1.3k words

⋆ WARNINGS: manga spoilers

⋆ A/N: Hope this chapter hits close to what you felt after reading the last manga chapter <3

⬅ prev chapter ┊ next chapter ➡

𝐘𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏.

“EREN TURNED INTO a what?!”

          You blurted out in disbelief, the thought of it only processing now in your brain.

          An ache was starting to form so deep in your stomach as you took in the bittersweet feeling after reading Chapter 139; the last chapter of the Attack on Titan series. Your lips trembled more at the continuous hurricane of emotions you felt towards the final chapter.

          Burying your head into the pillow that was in between your hands, squishing it tightly just to muffle your voice from being heard by your family. You raised your head to wipe your tears with the sleeve of your shirt, "Get it together, Y/N. It's just a drawing, shit, don't cry."

          Your eyes were already swollen from the tears that kept on spilling out non-stop, making it harder for you to continue reading the next manga panel because of your blurry vision.

          "Don't cry, don't cry. You idiot, it's just a fucking drawing." You kept repeating the words to yourself even if it was hard to do as you were already having a hard time breathing from breaking down over the last chapter of the manga.

          "Did Eren really just turn into a bird?" you pondered. “Or is it just some type of symbolism?"

          Confusion had now masked your face as you were beginning to have a whole conversation with the air about your thoughts over the ending—which was probably absurd to others. You were left with a lot of questions unanswered by the author, that's why.

          Because as much as you loved the series wholeheartedly, it felt like everything from the last chapter was rushed. But you were aware of having a tragic ending from the story due to the author hinting about it in one of his interviews you've read, but it was like he did a lot of characters dirty when he admitted that he couldn't express well what he wanted to show to the readers. And you felt so frustrated with every revelation that was unfolded to the viewers.

          "This doesn't even make any sense — No, shit, don't cry."

          You had witnessed so many side characters being brutally killed by titans or by devils disguised in the faces of humans from the last season and you felt devastated about their fate. And Eren was also willing to turn into a devil just to save the people he loved.

          But after reading Chapter 139, it's as if all the decisions he made were useless. Everything he did to achieve freedom went to waste and you were puzzled about it and felt like there were a lot of plot holes that still needed to be filled. You were even more baffled when Armin thanked Eren for destroying a huge part of humanity during their talk in the paths. You felt like his reason behind activating the gruesome rumbling to defeat his enemies and kill innocent lives from hatred wasn't justifiable.

          Just because he wanted to do it? That is so messed up. He deserves an Oscar award for that acting during the table scene though, you thought. The poor boy didn't even know if what he was doing was right. You didn't know if Eren kept a facade all this time or not, just so he could move forward until the end. Perhaps it is because he wanted his friends to live a peaceful life free from the horrors of war and suffering.

          Eren Jaeger, the boy who had sought freedom all this time was just a slave to the idea of achieving it. That the very person who always kept on moving forward for freedom was the least free of them all.

          How ironic, you thought.

          You had spent a lot of random days over-analyzing every small detail from each episode that was allegedly said to be a piece of information in foreshadowing that'll be put together for the most hyped ending of the series. You've even found yourself wasting a lot of time reading tons of well-thought-out theories and videos by other fans if you weren't busy studying. And now you didn't know what to feel about it.

          You constantly fanned your face with your hand, while also hiccupping from being overwhelmed by these strong emotions that clouded you. Taking a slow deep breath, you brought your focus back towards your laptop that was sitting in your lap now that was containing the very reason why you were crying in the first place.

          You felt like a clown since you told yourself that you were only supposed to have a small break from doing your piled homework for online classes—which didn't work out well as it turned into a longer one when you were scrolling through your timeline on Twitter and saw the hashtags that were trending which contained the spoilers about the much-awaited ending of Attack on Titan by the anime community.

          Deciding to check it out as you couldn't contain your excitement—but here you were, an hour later, feeling empty inside after all that reading. What you have read just now was tormenting your heart in the worst possible way, as every sob that escaped your lips made the ache in your chest keep on tightening.

          "This is still so sad, what the hell," you muttered, your voice croaking from all that crying. But all of a sudden, a small tender smile crept its way up to your face when a panel from the last chapter engraved itself in your head. It was the only thing that left you crying in awestruck at how beautiful and well-crafted it was.

          "At least, Levi's alive."

          You knew anime wasn't deep to begin within the eyes of those who don't dare to watch it, but man, this one was affecting you after all that emotional rollercoaster ride the anime series had offered. You bit your lower lip as you grab your phone beside you to check on the time. The screen from your phone opened and the light from it illuminated, reflecting on your face.

          1:40 am, it showed.

          A deep sigh escaped your lips. You were about to pull another all-nighter again just to finish your school activities for an online school. Days spent at home tend to blur and you see yourself doing the same old and messy routine. Sometimes you get a couple of hours of relief from the little things that kept you sane while staying inside your room all day, but there was always this constant pit of anxiety in your stomach and running through your veins.

          And you felt like you just have no control over it anymore making you feel drained. You didn't even know if it was worth it to keep on going and work hard for a future you weren't even sure you'd have. You just couldn't find the energy to do anything anymore. You were just so lost and couldn't figure out what to do with your life. But you had to keep on moving forward.

          It's for the grades. You can do this. Your mind started to drift back to the manga panels again as you reminisced about them, and a smile made its way to your face before you continued to study.

          With the thought that one of your favorite series has now come to an end, you brought your right hand to your heart—doing the salute from Attack on Titan to show your gratitude towards the show and author.

          "Shinzou wo Sasageyo!"

          You whisper-shouted the Japanese version, as your chest was now swelling with pride and nostalgia for a country from a story that doesn't even exist. But they were right. No matter what the ending of the journey might turn out, all good things must come to an end. And you knew Attack on Titan was going down in history.

To be continued . . .

⬅ prev chapter ┊ next chapter ➡

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 4: Shiki vs Vampire in the Garden

#E6: Shiki

Vampires and humans cannot coexist in a small town

#E8: Vampire in the Garden

Lesbian vampire & human go on road trip to escape the horrors

#E6: Shiki

Summary:

Life is idyllic and unassuming in the small town of Sotoba, a simple place where everyone knows everyone. However, tragedy strikes when Megumi Shimizu, a young girl with high aspirations, unexpectedly passes away from an unnamed illness. Over the torrid summer months, as more unexplained deaths crop up around the village, the town's doctor—Toshio Ozaki—begins to suspect that something more sinister than a mere disease is at play.

Toshio teams up with Natsuno Yuuki, an apathetic and aloof teenager, and siblings Kaori and Akira Tanaka, two of Megumi's friends, to unravel the dark mystery behind the deaths in Sotoba. With their combined efforts, the investigation leads them toward an eerie secret pertaining to the new family in the Kanemasa mansion.

Propaganda:

Shiki is a horror story about vampires. They need to feed on humans in order to live. They’re a threat to society. We’re all afraid of them. Except it’s not, actually, because Shiki is a horror story about genocide. The vampires and the village are fundamentally at odds: one cannot survive without the complete annihilation of the other. Conflict is inevitable. Conflict is completely justified, in the eyes of both groups. Conflict is still terrifying. Shiki though, is actually a horror story about human nature. You have little choice about whether you end up a human or a vampire. You, dear viewer, and capable of inflicting unimaginable violence and misery, and you will think yourself completely justified. You’re only trying to protect yourself, aren’t you?

Trigger Warnings: Cannibalism, Emotional Abuse, Genocide, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Self-Harm, Suicide

#E8: Vampire in the Garden

Summary:

During a winter long ago, near-immortal vampires began plaguing the world. As their population grew at an astounding rate, they promptly threw humanity off its place at the top of the food chain. Desperate to avoid extinction, the surviving humans concentrated in their last safe haven—a small city surrounded by an enormous wall. There, they have waged war against the vampires for many years.

In the midst of a particularly brutal attack by the vampires, a human soldier named Momo encounters Fiine, the queen of their enemies. After seeing her try to save Momo's best friend from a rampaging vampire, Momo follows Fiine back to her house. It is there Momo connects with Fiine over their love for music and desire to escape the fighting.

Pursuing that goal of escape, the two decide to journey toward a supposed paradise where humans and vampires coexist—despite being uncertain of its existence. However, Momo and Fiine are being targeted by both races, who they must first evade if they hope to reach their destination in one piece.

Propaganda:

This anime came out a year ago, but I literally never heard of it until earlier this summer because Netflix had it. You guys are SLEEPING on such a good series—it’s 6 episodes so it’s short, but it feels like a whole single film. The voice acting is so fun, the music slaps, the animation goes HARD during fight scenes, and it’s just so so good. The art style is pretty, and the scenery makes me lose my mind, it’s SO pretty. I need to write an essay one day about how VitG uses music to carry the story because wow that is 🛐🛐🛐 Also there’s a goofy looking dog named Connie that continuously appears and serves no purpose in the plot. Love that

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Cruelty/Violence/Gore, Racism, Self-Harm.

Child abuse & emotional abuse for Momo’s complicated relationship with her mother. Also emotional abuse for Fine’s past traumas and current strained relationship with other vampires.

This is a vampire anime, so there’s a lot of blood and fighting. There’s also a drug introduced in ep1 that mutates a vampire horribly.

Racism is human-versus-vampire shenanigans.

Self-harm for a scene where a human attempts to feed a vampire and for drug usage as mentioned above.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how it’s presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form with your revisions, and I’ll consider adapting those changes.

New: Starting round 5, screenshots will be included in the poll post. You can submit screenshots through the form linked above, or through here, via ask or dm.

Guidelines in submitting screenshots:

No NSFW or spoilery images.

Pick some good images please. Don’t send any blurry or pixelated ones.

You may send up to 9 screenshots, but not all may be used.

[skellybonesandtrees]

Building off your "small business defense" post, I also think it's funny when people say stuff like "they don't need to do what the fans want" because like, they're a business. The very base of what they're doing is selling products (videos, merch, Patreon, streaming subscriptions apparently) to customers (us, the viewers, the fans). And like, imagine the backlash if say, Netflix stopped listening to what their audience wanted by for example canceling very popular shows after one season and- oh wait <- It's already proven that you kind of need to listen to your customers to be able to sell your products, and now that Watcher so badly wants us to pay (with money -- because we were already paying with at the very least watching through their ads and selling our data to Google, and at most paying literal money for their merch, tours and Patreon) they should be doing something the audience at the very least wants to pay for. They're not, so they're getting backlash and it is very much justified (the backlash, not some of the absolutely nasty personal attacks on Steven, Shane, Ryan, or any of their loved ones/employees. They're not bound to us completely, but they are kind of reliant on us to give them money so they kind of do need to at least listen to what we want and some of our concerns...

They bungled it. At face value there's nothing wrong with wanting things for your business. But they put the burden of it all on their audience in a bit of a jerk move. I also agree with people who said they misunderstand their fans. Realizing your goals don't mesh with your audience's expectations also doesn't have to be a tragedy. Over time they could eventually build the audience they wanted. It's normal for audiences to change. Some people grow out of your content but you gain others too. It could have happened organically, over time. I feel like they tried to speedrun it.

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders Viewers' Choice #16: Richard the Lionheart

Today on Grailfinders, we’re building the crusader king of Fate/Strange Fake, Richard the first, a.k.a. Richard the Lionheart. Richie rich is a Champion like Artoria, since he needs to be able to almost copy her noble phantasm, but he also dips into Cleric to summon his knights, Fighter for some extra swordplay skillz, as well as the Duelist Archetype to draw whatever he wields quickly and effectively.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Ancestry & Background

okay, okay, no funny business with ancestries this time. Richard the first is a bonified Skilled Human, even if he has blue blood. with this, he gets a boost in any two stats like Strength and Charisma, and he gets his riding skill early thanks to a free training in Nature, which also gets bumped up for free at level 5. beyond that, his Natural Skill gives him training in two more skills of your choice like Diplomacy and Athletics. Richard’s kind of good at everything, so expect a lot of spread.

at level five, Richard can Sense Allies within 60’ of you as long as they’re not hiding from you. you won’t know exactly where they are, but finding them is also a lot easier.

at level nine you become Multitalented, which is where that Fighter dedication I mentioned earlier came from. by that point you’re proficient in both athletics and acrobatics, so you learn Deception instead.

at level 13 your Advanced General Training gives you another general feat of level 7 or lower. if there’s something you really want by this point feel free to grab it, but I’m saying it’s for Powerful Leap. it feels like every servant can hop around like a frog on crack.

finally at level 17 your Heroic Presence bolsters nearby allies with zealous conviction. they get temporary HP, a bonus against mental effects, and you can make them do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t clash with their morals too badly.

of course your background is a Noble, giving you a boost in Intelligence and Constitution, as well as training in Society and Heraldry Lore, and on top of that, you gain Courtly Graces, allowing you to use society to make an impression on other nobles.

Class Levels

1. getting the proficiencies out of the way, on top of the ones already mentioned you’re trained in Perception, Religion, Reflex saves, your Class DC, Unarmed, Simple, and Martial Weapons, all Armor, Survival, and Stealth immediately, and you learn Intimidation, Medicine, Performance, and Thievery as you get smarter. that last one might not sound kingly, but you have to remember he was british first. he’s also an expert in Fortitude and Will saves.

as for the actual fun stuff, your Key Ability is Strength, and you start off with an Ability Boost in Strength, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Charisma. you also take on your deity’s domain, Family. I can’t really justify that domain flavor-wise, but mechanically you keep your allies buffed, and family is great at that. your Soothing Words are a devotion spell you can cast once per day, or you can recharge it by spending some time doing good deeds and the like. with it, you can give an ally a +1 bonus to all will saves, plus an additional +1 against emotion effects, for a round. this can also counteract a current emotional effect on that target.

as a Paladin, you have to follow the Tenets of Good, which don’t do too much mechanically but bind you flavor-wise to the side of justice and all that nonsense. this gives you the Lay on Hands devotion spell as well as a second devotion casting per day, and you can make a Retributive Strike as a reaction. this simultaneously gives an ally getting hit resistance to the attack’s damage and allows you to get a hit in on whoever caused it if they’re in range.

you also get trained in another skill here for some reason, so grab Crafting, why not. you’re also trained in Divine Spells, though it doesn’t matter much for our build.

finally, you can Shield Block, if you ever feel like carrying one of those around.

2. at your second level you can take a Vengeful Oath against evil creatures, binding you to defeating them if there’s a good chance of success. you did fight the king of england before becoming him. die a hero or become a villain and all that. this allows you to lay on hands on enemies who have hurt innocents or good allies as if they were undead, causing it to deal damage instead of healing it. it’ll be a while until your sword is properly set up. so this will have to do for now.

you’re also popular enough to have the Eyes of the City on your target, allowing you to use diplomacy and society to track creatures in towns and villages.

you also get the duelist dedication this level since you’re not wise enough to be a cleric yet. for now, that means you can quick draw as an action, drawing and attacking in the same move.

3. at level three you can stick a Divine Ally in your blade, allowing you to add a free property rune to one of your weapons at the start of your day. you can pick between disrupting (good against undead), ghost touch (its in the name), returning (if you like throwing stuff), or shifting (if you’re indecisive). you also get the critical specialization of that weapon, which for a sword means the target becomes flat footed for a round. that being said you can technically turn any weapon into your “Excalibur”, so feel free to… branch out.

speaking of diversifying, your Untrained Improvisation lets you add half your level to untrained skill checks, so you can do a lot more than you’d think. you’re also better in Athletics.

4. at level four your Aura of Courage can buff up your allies and keep them from being frightened. when that happens, the condition value is reduced, and you also reduce the frightened value of nearby allies at the end of your turn.

while we’re not going as hard in the paint for a horse as we did with some of the riders, sabers still have that Bonded Animal we gotta get, so now you can spend seven days with a regular animal, and if you pass a nature check they’ll bond with you and become permanently helpful, unless you fuck it up.

you can also only have one bonded animal at a time. can’t have a repeat of your last campaign, right?

finally, you can issue a Duelist’s Challenge as an action, turning one enemy into your dueling opponent. until they are defeated, they run away, or the encounter ends, any one-handed attack you hit them with deals extra damage, at the cost of you dealing less damage to other creatures. that’s why you have to learn delegation. not yet though.

5. at level five your Ability Boost boosts your Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom. you’re also better at Diplomacy now, go wild. finally, your Weapon Expertise makes you an expert in most kinds of weapons.

6. At level six, you can Smite Evil by spending an action to deal extra damage against a particular evil foe. if that foe attacks one of your allies, the duration of this effect continues into their next turn, ad infinitum.

You may also Glad-Hand new allies by making an impression on them immediately at a small penalty. If you fail, you can still try again with your normal impression roll after a minute of conversation.

Finally, you can use your Dueling Parry as an action to give yourself more AC while wielding a one-handed weapon.

7. At level seven your Armor Expertise will protect you just a bit more, and you’ll also gain the specialization effects of medium and heavy armor.

While we still haven’t been able to summon your knights yet, you can at least be sure your minions are doing a good job if you’re a Hireling Manager, giving all your hirelings a +2 bonus to all skill checks.

We’ll also increase your proficiency with Religion while we’re here, and give you a Weapon Specialization for extra damage with weapons you’re more proficient with.

8. at level eight your Advanced Deity’s Domain lets you teach your knights some Unity, giving you a third devotion point and letting you use your reaction so each ally within 30’ of you can choose between using their own saving throw modifier or yours. paladins have pretty good magic defense, so yours is usually the better option.

you can also Rapid Mantel now to climb easier. this level’s a bit slow, aside from the new spell.

just kidding, because now you’re a Cleric thanks to your new dedication! since you’re already “trained” in “religion” and all that, you get proficiency in Acrobatics and Arcana instead. you learn a couple cantrips now, but to be honest we’re entirely just here for the summons.

9. level nine is actually pretty slow. you get Champion Expertise to help you defend your pokemon title easier, as well as a Divine Smite to deal damage over time to whoever you hit with your retribution.

you’re also now better at Fortitude and Reflex saves, as well as Religion.

10. at level 10 you get another Ability Boost in Strength, Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma.

Excalibur gets a little more shiny this level thanks to your Radiant Blade Spirit giving you more options to pick from for your weapon runes. now you’ve unlocked flaming, which deals persistent damage; and Axiomatic , which deals extra damage against chaotic enemies. you also don’t have to roll damage when you score a critical hit either, just take the average damage for each die. (you technically get the Holy rune as well to fit Pathfinder Richard, but Fate Richard is actually lawful neutral, so I’m leaving it off the list. no not that Lawful Neutral.)

you can also say a Battle Prayer as an action, dealing damage of your alignment to an enemy of your choice. it’s not massive, and you can only use this once per day per enemy, but the damage triples when you become legendary in religion, so that’s cool.

you also learn Basic Cleric Spellcasting, which doesn’t get you the slots needed to summon celestials yet. baby steps. if you really want something to do here, you could pick up Animate Dead, if you don’t mind your Richard being a lot creepier than the original. Maybe this is the FGO arcade Richard? anyway, the base version of the spell doesn’t do much, but for your second level slot you can summon a Skeletal Soldier, so that’s pretty knight-ish.

11. at level 11, your Alertness and Divine Will increases the proficiency of your Perception and Will saves respectively, and you can choose to Exalt your allies when you make a retributive strike, getting them in on the fun. since you kind of always have Excalibur on you, you’ll need some Incredible Investiture to free up some attunement slots.

you’re also better at Heraldry Lore now. why not?

12. at level 12 Excalibur becomes a Blade of Justice, letting you spend two actions to smite an enemy who’s attacked an ally or innocent before. the attack deals extra damage against the evil, and regardless of their typing you can turn all that damage into good. as a paladin, you can also add to it any and all effects you’d normally get from your paladin reaction to boot!

if you’d rather play on defense, you can gain a Sacred Defense once per hour by making a rather high religion check. if you succeed, you gain temporary HP for a minute.

you also get Expert Cleric Spellcasting this level, so you’ve got high enough spell slots to Summon Celestials! pretty much anything with “Archon” in the name (aside from a Lantern Archon) can make for a good stand-in. You could also use Summon Axiom if you want to stick more on the lawful flavoring side of things, but almost everything from there is either a demon or something you can get from the Celestial list.

13. your next level’s a bit of a cooldown as usual, it’s mostly just getting better at what you already know: Armor and Weapon Mastery, plus a boost in Intimidation. is it the army of angels? I bet it’s the army of angels.

14. at level 14 you get the only reason we took a vengeful oath at all, the Aura of Vengeance. now when you call on your allies to gang up on something thanks to your Retributive Strike, they take less of a penalty for following your lead. considering how much of this build is about helping the party, this is right in line.

what’s not is letting you Consult the Spirits. though when you think about it, the grail grants you information about where the war is taking place, and the grail is pretty much one big spirit, right? yeah, that’s what we’re going with here.

you’ve also got your fighter archetype from your ancestry now, so let’s pick up the United Assault. it’s a flourish attack that lets you make a strike with a damage bonus for each other creature that’s hit it since its last turn. since you can use your gang-up command at will, this will almost always be a +4 bonus.

15. we’re now ¾ through this build, so you know what that means! that’s right, it’s another Ability Boost! this time, grab some Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma.

you also have A Home in Every Port, mostly thanks to you waging war-sized tantrums about the fact that you didn’t before. yeah we’re truly on the cutting edge of political theory here on Grailfinders: “The Crusades: Not That Great”.

anyways, you’ve got a Greater Weapon Specialization for more damage with everything you’re good with, and speaking of being good with stuff, more Intimidation, go nuts.

16. at level sixteen you can stop all that painful thinking and become an Instrument of Zeal- whenever you crit with your retributive strike, you deal an extra die of damage and take away the target’s next action.

you can also force your foes to beat a Terrified Retreat for a round if you critically demoralize ones that are lower-level than you.

finally, if you ever do find a shield now you can form a Shield Wall with your knights. with this, you can spend a reaction when you and another ally have your shield up to give the two of you cover.

17. at level 17, your Champion Mastery makes you a master in, yes, champion-ing. you also get Legendary Armor and a boost in Religion. still not sure if crusaders are good at this whole “religion” thing, but boy howdy are they enthusiastic.

18. at level 18 you can Expand Aura for a round, doubling the length of one of your auras. you can only have one doubled at a time so you’ll have to choose between your aura of courage or vengeance.

you’ve also been in the field long enough to make an Assured Identification. even if you get something wrong, it won’t be disastrous.

finally, your Master Cleric Spellcasting lets you upcast your summons! you get a seventh level slot now, and an eighth level slot at level 20.

19. for our penultimate level, you can Quick Climb since I’m running out of stuff to give you. you also gain the Hero’s Defiance devotion spell, so now you have a guts! finally, bump up your Athletics so you can quick climb in the first place.

20. for your final level, Ability Boost your Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom. you also gain your third and final aura, the Aura of Unbreakable Virtue. with this, all evil creatures get a -1 penalty to all checks and DCs against your allies, or they get a -2 if they fall under your Oath of Vengeance.

you’re also religious enough to receive Divine Guidance, allowing you to spend 10 minutes reading the bible to get an answer to all of life’s problems if you pass a religion check.

finally, we pick up an advanced maneuver from the fighter archetype so you can Cut from the Air any ranged attacks coming your way. I’ll be honest I haven’t read Fate/Strange Fake, blame Nasu for never localizing anything, so everything I know comes from the wiki. so this is the only thing I know with 100% certainty Richard actually does in the book, everything else was interpolated from his skill descriptions. though tbf that’s how most of my builds work anyway.

oh right the actual mechanics of the feat: you get a +4 AC bonus against a ranged attack by spending your reaction slapping it out of the sky.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

I think I may have ended up making Richard’s Excalibur stronger than Artoria’s actually, especially if we count the damage caused by everyone else getting a hit in on a regular basis. Artoria’s got you beat on range though.

he’s really supportive of the party, protecting them from mind control and saving them from attacks. plus he literally brings the party with him thanks to summons!

thanks to being at least trained in almost everything, your skills can really pay the bills, giving you plenty of options outside of combat.

Cons:

while being a paladin can make you great at defeating evil, your tenets mean you have to defeat whatever evil you come across if you think you can handle it. great for your DM’s plot, terrible for actually living that long. most champions at least only have to worry about dragons, or undead, but you just picked anything evil, so good luck with that!

your exalted retributive strike eats up the whole party��s reactions. you’d better hope you don’t need anything counterspelled in the next round if you plan on going all out. also, as I found out 90% of the way through this build, summons don’t get reactionsat all, so your knights can’t actually fight with you as well as they should.

Yeah, let’s bring up range again. while you certainly have options if you’re willing to play fast and loose with the character thanks to smart summoning or using other cleric spells, those will run out real damn fast, leaving you with very little to fight flying enemies with. thank goodness you’re not a dragon slayer.

[woozapooza]

Sopranos thought that is simultaneously just a quibble and not a quibble at all: 

I take issue with the idea that Tony quits therapy in 4x11 because he’s not getting anything out of it. He’s clearly not getting what he wants out of it, and you can debate how much of that is his fault vs. Melfi’s fault vs. no one’s fault, but regardless, if that’s how he feels, he’s certainly within his rights to quit. (Contrary to what a weirdly large number of people on Tinder believe, going to therapy is not a moral obligation). But the claim that he’s not getting anything out of it is obviously not true: if Melfi wasn’t doing anything for him, he wouldn’t have called her a mere two episodes later after his fight with Carmela. On top of that, he blocks Melfi’s number so she can’t call him back. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t think he might be tempted to pick up, and he wouldn’t be tempted to pick up if she really wasn’t doing anything for him. 

So, what was she doing for him? She was providing something he can’t get anywhere else: emotional support! A place where he can be vulnerable! Remember, one of the final straws for Tony was that thing Svetlana said in the previous episode: “That's the trouble with you Americans [...] You have everything, and still you complain. You lie on couches and bitch to your psychiatrist.” I’m not going to say Svetlana was entirely wrong, though I also don’t think Melfi was wrong to say, basically, “okay, and what of it?”; that’s all beside the point. The point is that, in making this criticism and in saying (100% justifiably) that she doesn’t want to “prop [Tony] up,” Svetlana unwittingly played into the exact insecurity that’s plagued Tony since he first set foot in Melfi’s office: the fear that he’s not “the strong, silent type.” Tony doesn’t quit solely because he’s not seeing the progress he wants to see, he also quits because he’s insecure about needing emotional support, even from someone who, unlike Svetlana, literally gets paid to provide it. 

I say that this is a quibble because “he’s getting nothing” and “he’s getting a place to talk about his feelings without judgment, but nothing else” aren’t hugely different statements. But I also say that this is not a quibble at all because I feel that viewers who dismiss the emotional support aspect are, whether they mean to or not, buying into Tony’s worldview in which bottling up your feelings and traumas—at least, until they explode in the form of violence and/or panic attacks—is a mark of strength. And I don’t like that very much, to tell you the truth! Again, quitting is 100% his right. It’s his time and his money. But it bothers me when viewers don’t acknowledge the role of ego and insecurity in that decision. The strong, silent type is a myth. Humans, even mob bosses, have emotional needs, and you can’t make those go away just by pretending really hard. For example, I’ve had this rant bottled up inside me for a while, and now, having gotten it out, I feel way better. Does that make me weak? No, it makes me a blogger, which is a noble thing to be 💅

[wyrd-syster]

could you elaborate on the finale of the lost flowers of alice hart? i don’t know anything about the book but i found the ending of the show a little lukewarm and your comments got me really interested/curious

Oh YES I can elaborate. Because I have OPINIONS on this finale.

(Book and show spoilers under the cut)

Just to clarify, Alice only finds out about Charlie in the last, idk, 50 pages or so of the book? She doesn't even meet him until the epilogue. Obviously, they made his storyline more integral to the plot of the show, which I really liked...until ep. 7

For a show that spent a lot of time with characters looking out into the (admittedly, beautiful) Australian landscape, the transition between episode 6 and episode 7 felt rushed.

Things I hated about the finale:

Agnes burning Clem

This ruined the arc of the first part of the book and made no sense. The book literally starts with young Alice considering burning her father. Not because she hates him, but she wonders: "What might it be like, if her father was consumed by fire? All his monsters burned to ash, leaving the best of him to rise, renewed by flames, remade into the man he sometimes was: the man who made her a desk so she could write stories." In the book, Alice started the fire and only survived because Clem went back into the burning house for Agnes and Alice. In the end, Alice gets her wish: Clem Hart's last actions were to rescue the women he tormented at the cost of his own life. A lot of the book explores the complicated duality of the characters, and this moment was important to sit with the uncomfortable idea that he wasn't all bad all the time. Agnes burning Clem takes all that away. Not only that, but it then raises the question of why did Agnes die? the door outside was right there, it was so close she could've had a broken leg and still crawl outside before the fire got too big. So like, what, did she stop for a snack?

Clem attacking June (and wanting to """modernize""" Thornfield wtf?)

In the book, Clem left with Agnes when he found out his mother wasn't going to let him inherit Thornfield.

The last flashback we had of Clem (before ep 7) we saw a young man terrified of failing his mother, not a violent boy or man. How did he jump there so fast? And immediately from where the scene started he seemed like a caricature version of the character? It felt like the show was like "hey we need to show him committing more violence just in case the viewer forgot that he was a bad man."

Showing Clem choking Alice

In every episode before this that featured Little Alice, not once do we see any child abuse, just the before and afters. In ep. 7, the showed Clem fully choking Alice without a cutaway. Again, it felt like the show was making shortcuts to remind us that Clem was bad, just in case we didn't know it yet.

June is suddenly forgiven because??? she died???

And there is NO accountability for ANYTHING. Not her mistreatment and abuse of Alice, or of Clem, or of Candy, or of anyone?

In the book, June dies while Alice is still in Agnes Bluff, so she only learns about it after the fact from Twig and Candy. There is no satisfying ending between the two, which was important. Because Alice's journey only moves forward if her past is completely abandoned.

The implication that Clem was a product of rape and therefore would ALWAYS be bad, he was BORN bad, and all of June's actions are then justified.

The through-line of the book is the cycle of generational trauma. June's grandmother, who founded Thornfield, June's mother -- always about men. In the book, June isn't gay and the Robber Baron is a thief/slick criminal who hides away by the river. June falls in love with him and they have sex. He leaves and comes back a few times but stops just when June finds out she's pregnant.

So first of all, the change for the show? Listen I love gay Sigourney Weaver so the new "how" is fine. But with the way the show kept reminding us that Clem was a Bad Man Who Deserved No Redemption, the implication was that he was simply born bad...because he was a product of rape.

In the book, it's implied that June truly hates men but never confirmed. So first of all, having a son was a struggle for her because she was never going to be able to love him as much if he were a girl. I thought the show, up into this point, was doing such a wonderful job of capturing the nuances of this, showing that June mistreated and, to some extent, abused him, that he inherited the generational trauma just as much as his mother. But all that was thrown away in the finale. No nuance.

Alice burning down the shed

Triggering much??

The shot of Candy in that moment when the shed was burning that seemed like the show was saying definitively that Clem had raped her.

Up until this point, the "did she" or "didn't she" of Candy's history seemed to be left up to the viewer's interpretations. But again, they have to hit us over the head with, "Don't you see, domestic abuse is bad! Clem is bad! remember that!!" so they removed the nuance.

And my biggest gripe of them all:

If this is a story about women and violence, then why did Clem get more flashback/ghost energy screen time than Agnes? Why did we never get her POV? or Candy's or Twig's?

It felt like the show simplified the nuance of the show to make a PSA that Domestic Abuse was Bad. As if we didn't know that already.

This was a lot, and I could go on, but these are my top ones.

[animehouse-moe]

Hi ! I was wondering why weren't you reviewing jjk episodes anymore ? I loved reading your thoughts about the anime and I can't find other reviewers like you 😓

Love your blog !

First of all, thank you for the kinds words! Second of all, it's a bit of a complicated affair.

I think there are a lot of triumphant moments in this second season of JJK for the animators. I think a lot have done work that really can't be described as anything else other than a miracle in the context of this season.

But you sort of reach this fork in the road with those efforts, and neither is really where I want to end up.

The first option is praising the animators for their work. There's a lot of great work in the season. Not a mountain of work that I really think fits the context of JJK that well (and also severely messes with power scaling), but work that is undeniably well animated and executed.

The second option is to disparage MAPPA for their approach and behavior surrounding the production of this season. Front-loading staff to provide something presentable, or going in the opposite direction and putting animators in the position of having to work with the bare minimum to achieve a level of animation quality that is satisfactory for the studio (see the total lack of color and composition/lighting in episodes like episode 17).

What's challenging is that with both approaches, you'll both anger and upset people, as well as add fuel to the fire.

If you praise the animators for their work, people will immediately attribute that to Mappa, or justify the conditions due to the work being put out. Not like every other studio is a saint, but there's a reason that Mappa's been in the hot seat vs anybody else out there.

If you disparage the work of the studio, people do the inverse of what I just said, targeting the work of the animators themselves.

So it ends up this catch 22 that will always bother people and give others the ammunition to justify or disparage things based on their personal view of the situation.

In terms of more personal reasons, I think this season's just sort of been a struggle for me in general. I was a bit of a doomer right from the moment that Park was no longer associated with the project, so I haven't had the greatest headspace to really engage with the season. As this season's gone on, that mentality has only really worsened as it essentially revolves around finding good animators to get you from scene to scene. The moment that a not-so-great animator is present, the thing just sort of falls apart.

And then there's the story. It's such a funny thing, and in a way reminds me of Chainsaw Man. It's hard to really draw the line in terms of which staff member's influence it is (director/series composition/etc), but there's a few shadowy hands at play behind the season in ways that sour it for me.

The overall idea stays the same, they'd be crucified for doing anything to the core, so it's all these little details that get changed around. Poses or key interactions, even things as bold as the order of events. There is a hand that stirs a pot with these smaller details in a way that makes me question why. They don't feel necessary, but the approach feels like the person behind them felt they were needed. It's a weird greed in approaching the content.

A lot of people get up in arms when stuff gets changed period, and those people are sort of weird. Because of them though, the viewer's ability to challenge the creative input behind the adaptation becomes moot, and I don't think that's great. People can mess up, people can be too focused on their own interpretation and ideas, and viewers should be allowed to speak on those things and criticize them.

Anyways, bringing it full circle. I was already just barely holding on when this season started, and since then that thread of interest has been severed in really talking about Jujutsu Kaisen. Nuance no longer exists, criticism is either entirely baseless or used to attack individuals, praise always goes to the wrong people. If I were to point my reasoning in a single direction, I'd say it's largely got to do with the outlook and ideas of not just fans of Jujutsu Kaisen, but the average anime fan in general currently.

Not that I can't handle hate or harassment or anything, but when my entire idea behind doing these things is to engage the community in discussion surrounding something, and all that comes back is the equivalent of monkeys at a typewriter, it's just... tiring.

Learning more about production is incredibly important and should be fostered and encouraged within the community. But it's just so, so bad where people choose to stand in terms of learning. You either get people that know a few things and weaponize them to justify their personal (and biased) opinions, or the extremes in the sakuga-head territory that gatekeep and delight in sniffing their own farts like that South Park episode. It's hard to really find justification to discuss things in a public space when so few people occupy a reasonable position.