#representation is so important and who am I to get rid of that

[sillystringss]

TRUE!!! TRUE!!! TRUE !!!!!!

you don't deserve that blorbo if you have to skinnify them in fanart i'm sorry

[lexi-the-demon-69]

I redesigned Awakened Dark Cacao

!!IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER!! This redesign is only for fun and is not meant to offend anyone. I am fully aware of the cultural significance of Awakened Dark Cacao's design and this is only meant to be a critique/my own interpretation. I am also not claiming my design is better by any means. Please keep that in mind before you jump to conclusions.

I believe I have mentioned before that I didn't really like Awakened Dark Cacao's design. I do like what they had in mind, but it ended up being a cluttered mess. Also, you gotta feel bad for those poor animators and sprite artists who had to animate and draw sprites for that monstrosity of a design... So, I went ahead and redesigned it lol.

Here's the full design:

Here's the OG:

As you can tell, I obviously got rid of all of the cluttered detail on his hanbok and simplified it. I took more inspiration from Dark Cacao's berserk form when it came to his crown since I thought that would look less messy than the hat the OG has.

The OG design never really screamed "I'm a warrior going into battle to save my people" and more of an "I'm getting ready for a fancy occasion" type of thing. So, I gave Dark Cacao kind of a mix of a hanbok and a samurai outfit so he could move around more. I also gave my man his long hair back and put it up in a ponytail because he deserves to have his hair out lol.

I honestly wish Devsisters leaned more into the Berserk form idea since we have literally no other instance of Berserk Dark Cacao representation, so I feel like that would've been a cool callback. Not sure if you guys can see it, but I actually gave my redesign claws because wouldn't it be super cool if awakened Dark Cacao could turn his hands into the claws of his berserk form while in the middle of a fight? I thought it was a cool ass idea, so I gave that ability to him lol.

-----

That's it lol. I honestly really like how the redesign came out! I might make more posts about this version of Awakened Dark Cacao soon so stay tuned for that lol

[your-average-teenage-mess]

Okay, so a few months ago, I saw someone claiming that since some animals were seen engaging in some forms of trade, that must mean that trade is essential to humanity, and therefore it's impossible to realistically imagine a society in which people can live without the concept of ownership or exchange, and instead rely on the community to support them unconditionally.

Now, I am not a communist. I don't think that getting rid of the concept of ownership is a good or (and this is the important part) practical idea. I don't think our society can realistically get there in any of the upcoming centuries, it might drift into a non-capitalistic economic system, in fact it's pretty likey, but the specific model of communism probably isn't gonna happen. Also the idea of relying on collective action to achieve anything does have its own flaws- if that is your only system, there is a tendency to drift towards a model that allows the collective to throw out anyone who disagrees. I'm personally more of a socialist, and even that is just in the idealistic sense, practically I'm a social democrat. However.

Can we aknowlage that this is an appeal to nature? Animals might have not been doing communism, but they haven't really been doing capitalism either. The idea of a given individual or organization owning the jobs of other people is not some kind of essential truth of nature, it's just as much of a man-made model to push trade into this specific logical extreme that you could deduce from it (which again, isn't the only one, some models of socialism are arguably better representations of some ideas of "the free market" than what we have right now) as much as it is to try and replace it with communal support. We are, in fact, capable of developing models that are better AND more complex than the ones you get after stripping civilization out of all cultural power and letting people figure out a power structure out of chaos, you KNOW that, right?

[biwitchenergyz]

Making Aegon ii a rapist was a poor decision.

TW! Discussions of sexual abuse

Besides a few book lines about young Aegon being known to grope people (WHICH I AM NOT DEFENDING AND I FIND TO BE DISGUSTING) there was no real reason to make him a rapist besides making everyone team black.

The first introduction we have to adult Aegon is right after the scene with Dyana which hints that Alicent has dealt with Aegons victims before. By making this Aegons first scene they erase any sympathy or connection anyone could have towards him (myself included before reading the books). TGC did an amazing job at playing Aegon and he is the main reason I’ve begun to like Aegon again but the writers constantly prove to be his downfall. They make it canon that he is a rapist whose bastard children are forced to fight in pits that he frequents instead of showcasing it as Team Black propaganda. They attempt to do a 180 in season two by showing him as a loving father and a relatively good guy but the damage from the first season (and the lack of any good screen time with his children) is already done.

Personally, I think an introduction for Aegon would be better if we got rid of the scene with dyana and make Aegons opeining scene be Alicent searching for him only to find him sneaking back into the palace likely coming from the brothels. This hints to his misbehavior while also allowing for his character to be interpreted better. I think that dyana (and victims in general) can be really important representation to see on HoTD but the way it was done demonizes Alicent (a victim of SA) while also giving very little importance to the plot other than making Aegon a monster. We could have used that representation in the first season when Mysaria asks Daemon if he wants her to get another blonde Virgin for him or Aegon could have been shown to make maids uncomfortable in his youth. There were many different options, it would have been interesting to show young Aegon as a groper (similarly to his cannon character) but have Alicent lecture him or smack him over that behavior. It would still be a canon portrayal and it could also give the same option for people to dislike him while leaving room for Aegon to grow up and stop that awful behavior.

The only way for there to be two teams, green and black, would mean that Aegon isn’t portrayed as the worst man possible. Nobody can defend a rapist, nobody SHOULD defend a rapist, so the shows only intention is to make us team black but by advertising the show as two sides they make it easy for team black to send hatred towards anyone who strays from the acceptable view. So basically I think with the way the show uses victims and then drops their plot lines is really crappy and they make the leader of the other team a complete piece of crap only to try to turn it around with little to no genuine character growth. Aegon is funny, has no real political understanding, a total drunken frat boy and he really shouldn’t be king because he didn’t want to in the first place. But making him a literal offender fails because instead of choosing Rhaenyra because she has the legitimate claim and the most political understanding, you leave it with the decision of who would you prefer this absolute girl boss or a (possibly pedo) rapist?

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I honestly dislike the fact that within the Graphic Novels-

That Tamarin’s scars are COMPLETELY EARSED from her design.

Within the books, Tamarin is described to have multiple scars on her neck and wings and a big scar on her underbelly, due to the fact that she bumped and crashed into many objects around her while learning to navigate her environment with her disability.

But within the graphic novels, Tamarin has NONE of the scars that she has in the books within her GN design at all. Not even ONE.

Tamarin could’ve at least had her underbelly scar kept within her design, since that’s the biggest scar that she’s known to have, or at the very least kept one of the scars on Tamarin’s wings and/or neck within her design - since smaller scars within the series were STILL kept on certain characters’ designs, like Umber’s and Qibli’s scars. But they were NOT. The ENTIRETY of Tamarin’s scars in her design are REMOVED in the Graphic Novels, despite the fact Tamarin’s scars a rather IMPORTANT and/or MAJOR part of her design!

The ERASURE of Tamarin’s character’s scars is quite icky and bad thing to do, since it gets rid of the representation of scarred characters and/or people within media.

And that it’s even known to be possibly be done scarred characters within comics and movies due to the stigmatizing belief that scars are a “graphic”, “ugly”, “scary”, and/or “gross”, to have, which is quite icky and even ableist mindset to have towards scars and people who have them.

And it honestly quite upsets me that Tamarin scars are removed from her design in the GN, because doing this to a scarred character doesn’t just remove a part of their design - but also a part of their CHARACTER as well.

Because Tamarin’s scars (indirectly) show the struggles that she went through trying to navigate and live her life with her blindness. They show the hardships of what she went through and experienced with her disability. They indirectly show how she eventually grown from her experiences of her troubles and learned how to overcome them. So much so that she is able to teach a recently blinded dragon how to fly and navigate his surroundings while being disabled at the age of 3. Her physical scars - in some shape or way - represent her physical trauma, (past) struggles, growth, and Arc that she experienced throughout her life with her disability.

So the fact that the Graphic Novel Tamarin’s scars aren’t shown, despite the fact that’s they’re a rather important and/or major part of Tamarin’s design and character - honestly is something really irritates me.

Please note that while I am neurodivergent, I’m NOT physical disabled and/or severely scarred, so anyone who’s reading this IS physically disabled and/or severely scarred in any way, feel free to add your own input of this confession and/or state if there’s anything flawed, bad, and/or wrong about this confession in a hopefully civil and/or educational way. Thanks!

Anon sent in some proof, which will below the read more.

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (December 3-9, 2023)

I made a frame from this shot Wikizilla's Image of the Week. No regrets. Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, I love ya. When I was a teenager, explicit queerness was anathema to most big-name franchises. Those dominoes have been slowly falling, often in lower-profile tie-ins first, and to me this is a huge one: 69 years without a queer live-action Godzilla character are over. And Cate's the main protagonist of the show! I'm not under the delusion that media representation will cure all society's ills, but it sure doesn't hurt. Now, the non-Tumblr parts of the fandom are being completely normal about this, right? Right? Whatever, that's why you'll never get rid of me here. Cate had a couple more sweet moments with May in this episode, and Mariko Tamaki wrote episode 7, so don't expect her to stop kissing girls. Hopefully she's learned a valuable lesson about cheating though.

"The Way Out" is also another gift to those of us who have always wanted to see more of the ramifications of a world where Godzilla exists, from underground towns for the super-rich to ruined cities where federal troops shoot looters and harass people experiencing homelessness. And the show continues to find ways to use kaiju to talk about COVID, from Cate and Kentaro's exchange about San Francisco truthers ("It's easier than waking up every day and thinking, at any moment, the same could happen to you") to the blink-of-an-eye speed at which the threat went from on the news to her front door in the flashbacks.

As I foretold, we got a Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire trailer, an amusing contrast to the weighty Toho flick and Apple show already fore of mind. It's Adam Wingard unbound, that's for sure. The human cast seems pared back, a longstanding Monsterverse problem, and the kaiju fights were far and away the best part of Godzilla vs. Kong, so hopefully this approach will play to his strengths. But that movie also had excellent VFX, and some of the shots in here are rough. There's time to fix them, at least... which probably can't be said of Godzilla's design. I like that he's pink (did some Warner Bros. executive take the wrong message away from Barbie?) and sporting a thagomizer on his tail, but his proportions are uncanny. And I see Kong found the Infinity Gauntlet; good for him.

I am, of course, not done talking about Godzilla Minus One. It added over 200 screens and made $8.3 million in its second weekend in the U.S., a minuscule drop considering that its $11.4 million opening "weekend" spanned five days. Almost a third of all tickets sold this weekend were for Godzilla or Hayao Miyazaki's The Boy and the Heron, remarkable in a market so allergic to foreign imports. That brings its total to $25.3 million (more by the time you read this). With an avalanche of Christmas blockbusters on the way, its grip on premium-format screens is about to slip. Still, I see it hanging around theaters for a while. I have never seen the fandom so united in praise for a film before, and it's making plenty of new fans.

Some of those fans are in high places. Variety leaked that it's on the 20-film shortlist for Best Visual Effects at the Oscars (to be narrowed to five nominees), something I, again, never expected to read about a Toho Godzilla film. Alas, it's locked out of this year's Best International Film category due to the quirky nomination period.

Much has been made of how great the film looks on a $15 million budget. I have two caveats, one in each direction. No one is quite sure where the $15 million figure came from; Yamazaki said at a recent con appearance that he only wished he had that much to play with. (He has yet to divulge the actual budget, just that it was above ¥1 billion.) Now, unions in the Japanese film industry are much weaker than in Hollywood, so a given production budget goes a lot further in Japan. All the same, I doubt that alone explains Minus One looking better than most superhero movies made for twenty times the cost. I'll offer a couple more reasons: Yamazaki has extensive visual effects experience (he's been the VFX supervisor of all but one of the live-action films he's directed), and the film's big effects scenes aren't as busy or lengthy as many of the Hollywood counterparts. I don't know if Disney will ask Yamazaki to direct the next Star Wars movie (that would require there to be a next Star Wars movie), but the studios here should be taking notes.

the sphinx, a blog with a ton of American Godzilla rarities to share, has outdone itself—behold a continuity and dialogue script for the U.S. version of King Kong vs. Godzilla! Included in the download is a detailed comparison with the film. No huge differences, apart from the script giving the secretary added to the U.S. version a name, but a fascinating piece of history all the same.

The Minus One incarnation of Godzilla (MaiGoji?) has joined Godzilla Battle Line, accompanied by [SPOILER]. To be honest, my enthusiasm for this game has been flagging, and I'm not caught up on the strategies developing around these two, so I'll just refer you to Sir Melee's channel as usual. This Godzilla's also doing a collaboration with the Japanese mobile game Fleet of Blue Flame.

Tiffany Grant, Asuka's original voice actress, will narrate the audiobooks for the Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA light novels which explore an Instrumentality-free path for the show. Seven Seas Entertainment published them in English from 2019 to 2021, which, to be honest, was also news to me.

This one's for my fellow library workers: the obscenely popular Who HQ nonfiction series for children is publishing a book about Godzilla next June. I don't know if this will have quite the same impact on today's young Godzilla fans as the Ian Thorne tome had on Gen Xers and Millennials, what with the Internet and all, but it's certain to be more factual. Expect illustrations instead of licensed photos, and not just because of Toho.

I can finally talk more about the Godzilla x Kong: Titan Chasers mobile game without fearing a DMCA. Not that there's much to talk about; it's freemium through and through and I'm not sure I know a single person who's excited for it. Interesting to see some critters from the comics break into another medium, at least. Here's the trailer.

[redysetdare]

I think the reason I'm willing to give so much leeway to shows describing asexual as "a lack of attraction" without specifically saying sexual attraction is because

1. Most of society doesn't follow the split attraction model so when used in a non-sam way that definition can work

2. That's how I used to identify and how many others used to and still do identify. Hearing asexual described like that made it easier to find resources which lead to me finding I'm aromantic.

Yes, I know a non-sam allo audience and writers aren't looking at the asexual identity from the complex lense of there being non-sam aces and sam aces. I'm not saying that they are or can't be criticized.

What I am saying is that saying "asexual never means no romantic attraction" as an answer to the lack of aro rep is... Not always the case and is ignoring the wider issue of the split attraction model not being a widely used model outside of the aspec community.

I think it's important to realize that for some people, asexual does mean lack of sexual and romantic attraction. Similar to how for some people aro means lack of both as well. It depends on if the person sees their romantic and sexual attraction as the same thing or not. It depends on what label they are most comfortable with.

Yes we need more aro characters in media! Yes we need more ace characters who use definitions of asexual as "lack of sexual attraction" because we need more rep and we need writers who understand the identities they are writing for. But I don't hold it against anyone for describing ace as a lack of both attractions, because for some people that is how it is for them. I don't think we should get rid of that rep fully, but we should work on getting more informed representation in media to really show the spectrum of aro and ace identities.

I still think the representation we have right now is fine, even if you think the definition is "wrong". I think we can still do better and demand better representation without possibly hurting people who do identify with this "wrong" definition.

[magnetothemagnificent]

Sorry if this is an inappropriate or rude question, you don’t have to answer.

I’ve been dealing with internalised negative feelings about religion, due to being raised by very Christian family, when I’ve never believed what they said. It made me think that religion is an awful thing, a cult by sorts.

A few years back, I made a friend who is Jewish and he’s really cool and I respect him a lot. I also am trying my hardest to respect that he is religious but I can’t help that voice in my head, saying he’s corrupted. I don’t think I believe it anymore but I kind of want to ask, a reassurance I guess, what your views are in religion as a whole? Why do you believe it’s good?

First of all, it is not marginalized people's jobs to prove to why they deserve humanity. If you had asked any other Jew this question, they would have every right to ignore this quesiton and/or call you out on it.

However, I do put myself out there and try to educate people, so I'll answer your question.

Religion is part of human culture and history. For as long as humans have been humans, we've always had symbolic representation, taboos, and imagination. Paleolithic humans burying their dead with body paint and bead ornamentation- that's an example of spiritual belief. To be human is to be illogical, superstitious, and imaginative. Even other animals can sometimes act according to superstition or seemingly illogical motives. Humans are incredibley intelligent, and with our intelligence comes questions we cannot answer and fears we cannot explain. Where are we from? What is death? Where are we going? What is our purpose? These are all answers we seek, and having a religious belief set can help answer these questions. Religion is just a world view in the same way Western science is a world view, and they're not incompatible with each other. Many scientists are religious, I myself am a student of science and am religious.

Religion has brought people together for all of human history- it allows the sharing of ideas and resources. Harvest festivals, weddings, coming-of-age ceremonies, funerals, all these religious events serve to reinforce the bonds in a community. A relationship must be maintained and reinforced, or it becomes stagnant. Having a shared spiritual belief system and coming together for ceremonies reignites communal bonds. Religion also allows for a community to have a shared moral system. While religion isn't necessary for morality, it definately helps define the values and morals of a person and community. If a community can come together and agree on a system of values, then there's less potential for violence due to incompatible values. Religion is a social contract. Religion is also a comfort, and can help with the immense wait of loneliness we face. If the trees and water have spirits, then you are not alone. If your loved one goes to an afterlife after death, then they are not alone.

Religion has as much potential for harm as any world view. Just as there have been countless atrocities committed in the name of religion, so too have there been countless atrocities committted in the name of science. Does that mean we should just toss out all of science? No. In the same way we shouldn't get rid of religion.

Additionally, "Religion" isn't a monolith. It's not one world view, but a category of world views. There are many forms of religion and each religion is different. Monotheism, polytheism, animism, ancestor veneration, etc- these are all different kinds of religion that can overlap with eachother too. A bad experience with one religion doesn't define all religions. With all due respect, your experience is anecdotal, and you can't apply your singular lived experience to every since religion in the world.

And for Jews, our religious identity is deeply important to us. We've been persecuted for thousands of years for our identities, and we've miraculously not disappeared from the face of the earth. You don't have to understand why your friend is religious, but you need to unpack why you think he's corrupted and why you think you have the right to apply your experience with religion to every religious person. The fact that you were raised Christian might be another contributing factor to your bias towards your friend- antisemitism is often deeply ingrained in aspects of Christianity.

[cjstheshethey]

I really wanna talk about Blue Beetle and why it's so important to me. SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!

Ever since this movie was announced, I was excited because I have familiarized myself with the character of Jaime Reyes for over a decade now. My sister introduced to me to the character when we had our late night Young Justice marathons during a vacation in Mexico back in 2013. Eventually, we got to season 2, where Jaime was introduced. I remember when he would speak Spanish, I would say "Hey he speaks Spanish like us!" And sometimes my non-English speaking cousins would join us watching the show, and when he spoke Spanish, they were able to understand him. As time went on I kinda forgot about DC for a while since I was gaining other interests until Young Justice came back for its 3rd and 4th seasons(This is also your subtle sign that if you haven't watched Young Justice you should do that). Naturally, Jaime is still one of my favorite characters in the show. While I was still in my Young Justice hyperfixation, It was announced that a Blue Beetle movie was happening and even had some concept art shown. Me being the superhero loving Mexican nerd that I am, I was already hyped, and we hadn't even gotten a trailer yet. Then, on April 3rd of this year, the first trailer came out, and I was so excited. DC has been one of my special interests since literally as long as I can remember no joke one of the first shows I ever remember seeing was the original Teen Titans and so combine one of my special interests with one of the most important parts of my identity(my ethnicity) and an excuse to go to the movies? I was stoked. And so I finally saw it a couple of days ago, and I LOVED it. From the family dynamic to the music choices(La Chona in the beginning where Rudy was introduced was the most Mexican introduction ever and I love it.) and even a few references to Mexican culture I didn't expect, Blue Beetle was everything to me. Finally a movie centered around a Mexican family that wasn't afraid to go into topics like immigration and straight up racism towards Mexicans and those topics not taking up the whole story while also not stereotyping any of these characters and treating them like real people. These guys did their research, and it showed. During the part where Jaime comes back to Earth and starts saying something in Spanish, he's saying a prayer. I used to say that particular prayer a lot back when I was a kid, which is a good thing they added that in there because it makes relatable to someone like me. I really wanna make note of one of my favorite scenes from the movie. So after Jaime gets the Scarab and it attaches itself to him, he tries to find a way to get it off him. Once they go to Ted Kords' hidden lab and find out he can't get rid of it safely, he angerly walks out. His uncle Rudy follows him up to the roof. Rudy asks if Jaimes ok and Jaime apologizes for yelling at Rudy. Rudy then starts giving a really good talk about the family and how resilient they are. Then he says this. "I mean, look at your old man. He brought me here from Sonora....when I was 10." No joke, just ask @alextric-overload(Hey dude 😁) and my other friends who came with me, I legitimately gasped in that theater. Why? Because that's where my family is from. Never before did I ever imagine Sonora would even be mentioned in any media let alone a big screen superhero movie but I am so glad it was and I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never in my life have I felt so seen and so represented. The moment those credits rolled, I legit said word for word, "This! This is how you do representation. MORE. OF. THIS. PLEASE." This is why representation is so important because if we continue to make movies like this, more people like me can see themselves in media and feel the way I did. REPRESENTATION MATTERS! So please go support this movie if you haven't already, it's so worth it!

[your-ne1ghbor]

Hey! Here I come with ✨asks✨

There’s a lot here sorry 😭 And if you’ve already answered some of these, just pass them

Why did you choose to remove Amaya’s eye? Does she wear an eyepatch?

Why is Mag specifically afraid of fire?

Are they going to get villain transformations?

Are we going to learn more about the royal couple’s backstories in the actual story?

How are you going to show your story? (Writing, blurbs, comic, animatic, etc.)

How many songs are you planning to show?

Star’s backstory?

Design dump on the main four! Symbolism?

What are you going to do with Valentino? Is he important in the story?

Who gave Val to Asha?

How does Valentino act with the royal cat?

What deleted scenes specifically inspired your story?

How would Asha react knowing you created her backstory?

Asha meeting canon!Asha. Would she die again

Is cursing allowed in your AU?

What are the seven teens’ roles?

What about Sabino?

If Mag had the chance to get rid of Asha, would he? Without Amaya getting mad at him? (Since she was the one that brought Asha in)

Do the royal couple have similar goals in the story? (Like how @annymation’s royal couple are both in love and villainous, versus @oh-shtars’ royal couple is literally titled Grand Despair)

Will “A Kingdom of Thorns and Roses” name ever be mentioned in the story?

Draw Mag dressed as Megamind >:3 (or meeting him or treating to him, idrc)

Canon!Amaya reacting to TkoRaT!Amaya

What dementor-like monster is shown in your past drawings? Will we see other ones?

Where did they spawn from?

Will there be other realms in your story? Like a Star realm or a cursed realm

Would you consider this a “Disney movie” or more of an AU? Like, could it be made by Disney? (minus a few things like queer representation or cursing)

How can stars die? Can their physical bodies die but their “spirits” remain? (I know you cut this aspect but will it reappear?)

Are there any aspects of other rewrites you want to incorporate in yours?

Why did Maggy and Amaya name the kingdom “Rosas”?

Who discovered wish magic?

Who taught Asha how to make flower crowns?

Are you scrapping any songs?

Adding any new ones?

Adding any new characters? (Like how I’m adding Evangeline)

Are Asha’s parents important to the story?

A little self-indulgent, but some TFS doodles? :3

I hope you enjoy these questions! <3

yoo I finally got internet now let's get to these questions

Ooo you really cooked with these questions @wings-of-sapphire✨️✨️

The eye originally was a way to explore how I can make her more scary, but then it kinda stuck with the overall design so yeah lol. And no, she doesn't wear an eyepatch. I mean, an eyepatch is cool and all, but just an empty eye socket is more terrifying and disturbing to look at for me and works with the overall tragedy of her character.

Mag is more afraid of Star's than fire. But...

He couldn't do anything except watch as a star destroyed his home in flames.

When it comes to fire though, he is more nervous or afraid when it is used to destroy things. If it is used to light up a room or cook food, he doesn't really mind since the intentions aren't bad.

3. Maggy will 100% get a villain transformation, including Amaya as well. It's kind of like boss stages. So basically, they will have a total of 3 transformations, the last one being something scary (haven't thought about the designs yet for the final transformations)

4. The beginning song or replacement song called Home is the founding of Rosas and the actual downfall would be shown since Star Boy didn't know what happened since the stars didn't tell him why Mag is the way he is basically. So yes, 100%.

5. A mixture of all of them. I do want to write it out, but rn I just don't know how to execute it.

6. I'm not sure. It's debatable since I've been focusing more on the worldbuilding than on the songs. Plus, I am no song writer, I suck at writing songs. Even if I get an idea for one (for the replacement song "Welcome to Rosas" is a good example of that [Its called Home]), it's just execution for me.

7. Heh heh that's for a separate post but here is somewhat a glimpse:

(That's mag btw, I'm just messing with his design again 💀💀)

8. I had finished Asha's design, just need to add some minor details. Plus, the other 3 is still me messing with the designs. However, I can show you some of my ideas:

Maggy's is somewhat gonna look like this:

Ofc with more sharper edges and thorny design.

For Amaya, I'm still not sure outfit wise lol.

9. Valentino will actually serve as a guide through the castle and of Rosas to Star and the 7 friends. Idk I just think a goat helping a star with directions is a funny and fun premise. Plus, Star Boy is terrible with directions 😭

10. Idk he just appeared one day and Asha was like: imma keep you. I probably will add more to both of them, but I'm not sure how they met at the moment.

11. They are silly. Aka, they are close friends. Just that Charo gets a little annoyed by Valentino haha.

12. The scene where Asha and Star escapes from Amaya, and the villain couple deleted scene and the wishing tree deleted scenes.

13. She wouldn't care. She probs be like: No shit? Until she realizes how much I do her dirty and she will collapse emotionally.

14. TKORAT Asha would moreover be nervous around her ad Cannon Asha would probably dislike her

15. Yes lol

16. tbh idk yet, I haven't really put much thought into their characters yet since I wanna focus on the main 4 and worldbuilding before I come to the 7 friends since I personally don't know at the moment. All I know is that Dahlia and Gabo are most likely will be siblings since I loved their semi bickering in the OG film.

17. Dead.

18. Mag will only take that action if she becomes a threat to him or the kingdom.

19. They have similar goals in the story, yes. They both want to make sure that everyone will never dream again. They both lost everything because someone wished on a star, or hense had a goal to pursue, and it caused an entire kingdom to fall. Why should they let a dream go Rouge again? They would at least be doing everyone a service by making sure the problem doesn't become a bigger problem later on.

20. The title is so long that idk how I will incorporate it in the story. But if I do, you guys will probably read it 🧍

21.

Megamind has a point Maggy 🤷

22.

TKORAT Amaya wouldn't like how Cannon Amaya literally didn't do anything or even tried anything to prevent her husband from going down the path he did in wish. So yes, TKORAT Amaya pretty much hates her.

23. I don't necessarily have the drawings with me except for this one:

But moreover, another one I have, that I am still designing for "the River of Lost Souls" is probably the closest thing to it. I have more, I just don't have it on me rn 😭

24. Hell, for the River of Lost Souls. And the pic I showed above is from my Oc, Axe's species. Or basically coming from the ground I guess. Plus another one I wanted to show was an old design I had for Axr hehe

25. The Star realm does exist in my au, so does hell, and I'm debating a monster realm, but rn it is cut for it kind of complicates things heheh.

26. I have thought of this before, and I see it more as it's own thing that can be futher explored in other interpretations like shows, pre-quals, ect. It's more AU than Disney to me at the moment.

27. You have to get them out of their disguise form in order to cause any sort of long lasting injuries. Other than that, dark magic is literally the only way to hurt them. And it has to be in their star form. Their disguise form are like a shell for their true form. That's why it is better to have them in their most vulnerable state in order to do any sort of damage to the Stars.

28. I was inspired by a ton of AUs, and a lot of them did rub off from me, like The Wishing Kingdom, Fallen Star, and Reach for the Stars aus.

29. When they founded the kingdom, the whole place was covered in so many roses and flowers. They also dubed it Rosas not only because of the roses founded on the island, but it has a calming name that isn't threatening to people. It sounds...peaceful.

30.

31. Her parents. No not her adoptive parents, her biological parents taught her :3

32. I am a Star is removed. I fucking hate that song with every fiber in my being. This is the Thanks "We" Get would be rewritten to fit the context of Mag and Amaya.

33. I want a song between Mag and Star. It would be focusing on how much of a monster Star could be and "will" be. Plus the song called Home (that I still dunno how to execute 😭)

34. Quite a bit, but the few would be Maggy's Star, or the Blue Star, the star that destroyed Rosas, Aster, and some creatures that makes the worldbuilding whole.

35. Not sure at the moment. I would imagine it as a lingering effect on most of the people in Rosas.

36.

(I had no refrence for Asha when I drew her when I was camping lol 💀)

Anyways thank you for the questions! I had a lot of fun answering them! Hopefully this gave you guys some more info on my AU!

Gonna go through my inbox, so now I will bid you adue 💕

[bamboobrat]

succession s4 e5 recap: swedish elon and his logan roy tribute band

time is a flat circle and we are back to ken hyping himself listening to rap, driving to the office.

anyone feeling nostalgic yet?

he is immediately caught off guard by the fact that roman and shiv are already there.

also he seems like the worst boss ever.

i really don't like ken when he is not hitting rock bottom.

(there is a movie about a sleeping robot in a cave that takes up too much time in this episode. let's not get into all that)

the old guard checks up on the CE-bros before their trip to norway.

matchy matchy&lt;3

turns out mattson wants them all there (why wouldn't he?) so THE GANG IS GOING TO NORWAY! lets bleed the swede!*

*as a norwegian, i approve this message

mortality has set into team krank, as they put on compression socks before the flight.

krank is not here to have fun. krank has no young mistress to impress. krank is serious.

shiv has noticed ken's leaks to the media from last week because she is boss. it's the comeback we've been waiting for.

but most importantly, she is waging a very important war against tom and his stupid new sneakers:

the sibs say they can kill tom for her. that's brotherly love.

hugo is not having a good time.

i am tho.

gerri rallies the troops by shitting on europeans.

yes mommy tell me i'm weak because i have free healthcare! sit on my face

gerri for CEO. always.

they accurately depict what it is like driving in norway:

(this is why i don't have my licence)

the gang arrives in the motherland and it's beautiful, but rainy (so authentic) and are all like WHY THESE WOOD CABINS SO SMALL?!

ironic because jeremy lives in fucking denmark.

anyway, whatever this is:

I DO NOT APPROVE!

the trip up to mount olympus is interrupted by con saying he can send a picture of their dead dad to the group chat.

nobody wants to see it.

also, marcia is putting logan in a kilt like the fucking bay city rollers and con had to cancel a room full of working class whites in cleveland. the sacrifice.

they give con carte blanche for the whole funeral thing, which is probably a terrible decision.

the funeral is going to be one big campaign rally, i'm serious.

the others have to settle for a nice lil scandi brunch spread. what a hard life.

i don't say this often, but i would be hugo in this scenario, piling onto my plate like it's nobody's business.

karolina has a cute lesbian moment.

she says something in swedish at some point, but let me tell you, i understand swedish and i didn't even pick up on it. no shade to dag, but lol.

hugo doesn't understand how ski jumping works.

i thank the writers for putting this joke in there, even if literally no one other than random scandi people will get it.

it's like the opposite of danny boyle's the beach<3 give back to the community<3

roman enters negotiations and puts his fingers in the caviar.

you think i didn't notice? after all this time, you must know i notice everything.

the CE-bros make the village elders proud, as mattson offers 187 per share as long as he gets ATN.

also, gerri does a second take looking back at roman. these are the crumbs i am destined to live on, i guess. roman doesn't want to give up ATN tho, probably because 1) his dad wanted ATN 2) his dad told him he wouldn't make it at pierce and belongs at ATN 3) he is, somehow, the most rational of the siblings right now????

speaking of rational: how are we feeling about the shiv/mattson potential here? i honestly have zero objections.

shiv is like fuck yeah, sell ATN, that shit is toxic.

agreed, but who gave mencken an open line to ATN-meetings? sounds like something logan told cyd to do during one of those late night calls.

"even dad had a line" rings true zero percent. pass.

get rid of atn. word is, they don't even have tucker carlson anymore? just keep a sweater, much less racist.

we get some important leo dicap representation:

and greg is the bringer of all that is exposition, telling us there is a kill list with 8 to 9 names, ever evolving.

now, as most readers of these recaps would know, i would like to avoid spending any time on greg whatsoever (made even more poignant by the recent rumors about nick), however, this must be one of the best exchanges of dialogue ever made:

greg: da fam shiv: da fuck

that's all.

tom tells the swedes that americans don't care about the rest of the world and it's funny because it's true.

and alex being like "you're ALL related?!"

i see you, succession writers, i see you.

mattson calls waystar a parts shop and has a good take on right wing media:

"i dont think news for angry, old men works"

instead, he opts for bloomberg grey: simple, cheap, huge, ikea'd to fuck. i do love ikea.

he calls the sibs a tribute band which is harsh. even for a scandi, it's fucking harsh.

anyway, SAUNA! SAUNA! SAUNA!

GERRI. IN. SAUNA! (chant with me)

i will never forget what the succession writers took from me.

krank out here just chilling.

i've never shipped anyone more.

we are introduced to ebba. i can tell i'd have more to say on this in any other situation, but it just feels weird (all norwegian know each other, i guess).

anyone else here for the shiv/mattson dynamic?

i'm sorry, i kind of ship it????

ken wants to tank the deal and roman immediately calls him out on his destructive bullshit:

and then immediately caves.

"i think we are good at running the ship" they say after doing it for approximately 24 hours.

i wish i had their confidence.

also, pinky can't dance, according to ken, so they keep shiv out. meanwhile, she gets cozy with lukas, who asks her about her marriage (bad) and tells her he sends liters of blood to ebba (also bad).

shiv shows us why she is paid the big bucks for political advice:

we don't see the end of their night, so i'm just going to assume they fucked. because she's worth it.

also, talking up gerri and karolina? girlies stick together<3

big bi vibes here. huge. idc if she's pregnant and drinking.

meanwhile, the CE-bros use greg to leak that the negotiations are souring. why would you trust greg with anything?

in an attempt to fuck the deal, the CE-bros show a terrible film to the swedish team, as if being scandi doesn't mean you've sat through enough terrible cinema already....

we get the strangest fight in tv history:

lol @ us for thinking this was an important moment for the two of them and then it's a fight about white sneakers and fat earlobes.

i sure hope shiv fucked lukas.

roman receives a photo of his dead dad and it doesn't really put him in the right place to negotiate with mattson:

ouch.

leave it to kieran to make an emmy-worthy speech across from alex skarsgaard peeing.

the plan was: tank the deal, but in a subtle way. what they did: try and tank the deal, but in a not very subtle way. did the deal tank: no.

i hope you understand.

the question is, if a deal collapses in the woods and no one hears it, is it a SEC violation?

mattson ends up offering 192 per share. karl jizzes his pants.

shiv gives the little spelunker tom a lil treat, telling him to fire cyd.

then she asks him out?

and ignores him again because she is taking a call from mattson?

idk my dudes, but i'm into this shiv comeback.

mattson seems happy and flirty and i sure as shit hope this goes somewhere.

as long as it doesn't involve liters of frozen blood.

i have a feeling it will be all good vibes until he learns about her pregnancy. there's always something rotten in the state of denmark (or norway, or sweden, but it's all the same).

the waystar-team receives the kill list after the offer and it's very stressful for a few people who made themselves suffer through a session in the sauna:

not on the kill list: karolina gerri tom because shiv fucking did the thing!!

oh, and karl and frank are on the kill list, but i think they are just fine.

maybe the real treasure was the compression socks we made along the way.

[rhmis-user-2020]

Things I must state before I get called out:

If you want to headcanon Varian or any other character as trans because it makes you feel closer to the character or not, then by all means do so. You’re valid and this is perfectly reasonable. But remember, Varian is voiced by a male actor who is Jeremy Jordan and he is a male since his pronouns are he/him and is a male character.

I may face slack for not sharing the trans Varian HC personally and only using it when it's necessary and just accepting him as a male character, but I’m in the mindset that we need more characters who were born male that do not conform to society's norms.

It’s incredibly important for boys/men to see that they can sew, cook, and clean without these activities being treated as if they are somehow emasculating. Getting rid of toxic gender stereotypes is the first step to a future where people can be accepted as equals.

Varian is bisexual which I give a pass, there are people who use the trans tag when all they really want to do is gender-swap the character to fit their smut preferences. Objectification is not representation. To be clear, I'm not saying all trans smut is like this. The type of storytelling I'm talking about is obvious to spot. You'll know it if/when you see it. Though hopefully you won't have to see it.

For Hugo, I am looking forward for him to be pansexual much like how Robin Hood from Robin Hood: Mischief in Sherwood is. Whilst Varian is bisexual for all honesty, as the prince does get headcanon as bisexual but he is mostly headcanon as gay.

Varian would interact with Nuru and Yong much more and develop a close friendship but he can have a complex and developed one with Hugo and soon grew to have a friendship to a lover dynamic.

As I stated, every Varigo shipper would have a different preference, but this is mine and you're free to add yours.

[firecrackerhh]

Glad to see Squid has some standards at least.

Honestly I feel like people like this think having to meet deadlines by itself is worker abuse, I feel like their grades in school must’ve been horrible if so Lmao. (Aw who am I kidding, I can’t fucking judge, I forgot to turn shit in all the fucking time if the spot where you’re supposed to turn your work in wasn’t in view or if the teacher didn’t just collect it themselves. Like my English grades were garbage mainly because I never turned shit in (the turn in box wasn’t in my line of sight and I sucked at formal essays)

But at least I KNOW how the real world works and realize that shit has to get done.

If this bitch really wants to whine about crunch time they should start bitching about video games, now THOSE workers are under duress.

What’s this, the narrative trying to give you hints as to whether or not a scene should be considered good or bad for a character based on context clues? Perish the thought! Just because you disagree how a scene should be portrayed doesn’t make the scene bad. Viv writes this shit in the most obvious way imaginable because it’s clear too many people have the media comprehension of fucking roadkill and these retards still get mad.

“Let the viewers decide!”

Bitch this isn’t Epic rap battles of history you don’t decide Jack shit!

Do you not know what narrative is??? As if saying “yeah your dad fucked up but he still cares about you.” Doesn’t have any nuance at all??? You people are so fucking retarded, and you want to decide what you think the narrative is?

It seems the only fucking time these people think actual nuance exists in Viv’s stories is when they make fanfic about the villain characters they like. But otherwise every character is 100% shit because they think Viv is shit.

…I don’t even know what to say here. At least they like the animation?

Oh for fucks sake…

“Waaaah but portraying disabled people like that will make people treat disabled people badly waaaahhhh!”

Sure, if the people watching said media are fucking retards maybe. These people act like if media never portrayed characters in a certain way discrimination would never exist! Like, do y’all think discrimination against certain people only really started ramping up when the motion picture got discovered?

Like I don’t deny that representation matters but if some dumbfuck sees a bad portrayal of a certain kind of person and they think that portrayal is in any way fucking accurate they clearly shouldn’t be watching television to fucking begin with.

Our whole society is ableist in a variety of ways but suddenly getting rid of shitty portrayals of this or that disability doesn’t actually solve the underlying issues anyway.

Maybe if you give a shit about disabled people so fucking much maybe instead of getting pissy at media portrayals not meant to be taken seriously you instead focus on…oh I dunno, how the united states government only allows disabled people to have up to 2000 in SSI money every month or else they can’t fucking have it anymore because obviously the United States government is ghoulish and wants us all to fucking suffer because God forbid disabled people maybe wanna save up to buy not-important things, cuz clearly disabled people can never have any fucking fun whatsoever.

Or maybe you can talk about how the government makes you jump through hoops to get said money to begin with by making you go through bullshit tests and asking you stupid fucking questions because God forbid someone try to “fake” a disability they don’t have for 2000 fucking dollars, I could start selling crack and I would make more than that in a MONTH.

But sure, this shit is totally worth getting mad at, suuure.

Anyone who legit uses media caricatures as an excuse to be a POS to disabled people was already a POS to begin with, if those didn’t exist, they would find some other fucking excuse. If you wanna get pissy about this shit, whatever, I guess I can’t really blame anyone for being upset, but like…cmon man, there’s so many more important things you can bring awareness to, and a one off joke doesn’t really deserve the seriousness you insist on bringing to every wretched conversation you have about the show.

Like goddamn, maybe all of this is very much a you problem and you should consider other fucking hobbies.

It’s fucking Brandon Rogers for Christ sakes, why are you so pissy, it’s worthy of an eye roll at best.

Everyone wants to act like Viv’s shows are gonna bring us back to early 1900s level of discrimination or something, these people gotta chill, cuz all their whining isn’t helping anyone nor themselves.

🧨🔥~Firecracker out~🧨🔥

[nonsensical-pixels]

Dear Sims 2 Community, part 2

Forewarning: Long post again.

I would like, first and foremost, to apologise to @sicksadsim. We have both talked our situation out in DM's and agreed to delete our posts sniping at each other. I was wrong to jump to conclusions about them and I deeply regret it. The person who originally posted the comments we were arguing about has deleted their comments and we have all agreed to start afresh.

Secondly, I would like to thank @jessica-ebadi for enlightening me a bit more on how racism works in Western countries. It was interesting to have a conversation with someone from the opposite side of the world and get to understand each other better.

Thirdly, since I was mainly talking about South-East Asian names and misconceptions in my original post, I have decided to make one about other cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities, and backgrounds! So here are a few below that I see being perpetrated way too much. Some are my own, some are from other people who have offered me their opinions.

Not all Indian people are dark-skinned. My own ancestors came from North India and that's why many were mistaken as Europeans during World War Two. I am tired of seeing people act as if all Indians must be dark-skinned.

Africa is a continent, not a country. Oh my god I hate this idea. I see WAY too many people in this community acting like Africa is a country rather than a continent. There are so, so many diverse cultures in Africa, so many countries, so many peoples! PLEASE stop generalising African cultures.

Not all people from one country have to be the same race, look the same, and speak the same language. This is one of those misconceptions in The Sims community that REALLY makes me upset. Most sims I see representing other countries than America are pretty much just the stereotypical person from that country. Every country has its expats, its foreign immigrants, and IDK, maybe people whose ancestors have lived there for decades but aren't what you would 'normally 'think are people who would live there. There are also mixed-race people too!

Karen are an actual race, they are not just your average 'I-want-the-manager' person from the West. You can read about them here and their story is heartbreaking. It literally drives me up the wall to see people, especially on Reddit, dismissing the plight of the Karen people because they share a name with a stereotypical rude person. Which isn't even pronounced the same. I am now informally starting a petition to change the name we refer to rude entitled people to something else.

Yes, Goopy GilsCarbo is a real name. It's a mashup of Goopy Rossi and Gabe GilsCarbo, who both worked on TS2 together. While I find it funny too, it's rude to call it weird when an actual person could conceivably be called this name.

Plus, while the developers may have put this name in as a joke, it does not mean it's okay for you to ridicule it as a fake name.

Yes, people have different, unique, and wonderful facial features. I find it so sad that wide noses and faces are turned down and replaced with 'YouTuber' faces that all look the same. Hooked noses are beautiful in their own way. Big chins are beautiful in their own way.

Just because something does not match your concept of what 'beauty' is, does not mean it isn't beautiful.

For games released in the early 2000s, the early Sims series has been remarkably good at representing people of different lives. Think Amaury Plumard from The Urbz--how many games back then had wheelchairs? And though it aged poorly, how many games back in 2000 had same-sex relations enabled? I think it's important to keep up that trend of diversity and openness.

If there are any more misconceptions I have missed, feel free to comment them down below, but please keep in mind that representation does matter and we are trying to get rid of stereotypes in this community. People need to have the opportunity to leave input about how they are being represented. You can have your discussions, just please don't point fingers and call people things before you understand what they're saying :))

[cyborgdumptruck]

Why I like Jetstream Sam: A Comprehensive Essay

I was actually thinking of making a separate post about Sam as a character. So I think the time has come. 

Disclaimer: these are just my thoughts and observations about him (might also include hcs). I do not and never intended to establish one only interpretation of him in canon. Basically, this is just me rumbling about my own comforting stuff, and you don’t need to take that seriously if you have some other opinion. 

And another heads up: my English sometimes is very wonky when it comes to writing something very important, I get pretty nervous, and it is very hard to write about it. It is probably connected with my mental health, so don’t be surprised with some mistakes. 

My acquaintance with Samuel started with memes. I was curious to know more about Sam with the thought that he might play an important part in MGR plot (I was not mistaken). However, I thought that Sam was a sidekick of Raiden who would betray him in the end (which was not true and I am actually glad that it is like that). After discovering more about the plot and characters, I got invested even more into the game (which I managed to play after months of being in the fandom). I just fell for him as a character right away. In the end, I dove deep enough into fandom to know more about him.

Here is the meme I am referring to.

and here also my favourite pic with the battle in badlands which I saw during my search.

So, what actually makes Sam such a nice and expressive character? Voice, mimic and gestures, they are rich. The way I see him move and talk..It just makes me melt. Every time I see him on the screen makes me squeal “he is so cool”. (fangirl moment I guess)

However, there is something more behind this charisma and smile. It cannot be seen from the first glance, yet it is strongly connected with him. You know what they say? The eyes are the mirror of a soul. I see those eyes, I see pure sadness. Yes, Sam hides it, yet it can be observed through his reaction to different interactions in the game. Here are a few screenshots that I consider the best representation of how it shows Sam’s despair. It is not about expression, rather the way he looks - tired, sad, broken. He hides it behind the cocky attitude and remarks.

Well and of course the difference between dlc Sam and Desperado Sam who is seen as a parallel to Raiden. I also like the detail that they both have scars on their left part of the face. Another interesting thing is that Sam cuts Raiden’s left arm while he had his right arm cut by Armstrong. From that point this wound started “the fall” of him. I think that he just lost his way, he lost desire to live. Raiden was his only hope, at least get rid of Armstrong as the final “revenge”. 

Surprisingly, Sam feels more of a protagonistic figure than Raiden (he just has some vibes of it). If not the circumstances, he would be a hero too, I just feel like it. 

In my humble opinion, Sam is capable of not only showing some more “human” and “genuine” side of him. He CAN FEEL because he is not fully augmented. He struggles, like all humans and who knows, maybe he wanted a better life. 

Sometimes, I feel that I can partially relate to him. I don’t know why, but it is just something that helps me to feel significant in this world. His story kinda reminds me of my own (not at all parts, but just the concept of “losing my identity”).  Anyway, the point is that I feel him as my comfort character. It is just enough to see his smile to understand that things will be alright. 

To sum up: Sam has a large potential as a character, he deserves appreciation and love. I would give anything for him to have a separate game with the whole story of the revenge for his dead father and destroying drug cartels in Brazil. It would be really awesome! 

Just look at him ;_; he is so...perfect!

[girl4music]

New concept I want more TV art/entertainment creators and showrunners to get on board with.

Killing off a character not to get rid of them.

But to explore them, their depth of character, more.

So we can truly learn not only who/what they are.

But also who/what they can become.

And their lasting impact on everything.

I think that would be so much more interesting than just simply killing them off to give them a cheap and easy way out of the narrative. That’s not interesting.

What would be interesting would be finding a way to show that they’re much more significant than that by still having them “pass on” but never be forgotten.

Essentially immortalizing them in the eyes of others and giving them a legacy that can be followed on. If it has to be a new face - a new actor - then so be it but then make it so that that was the whole point of them.

I’m so sick and tired of the killing a character off routine but I wouldn’t be if there was a way to provide more character representation and development for them even without them, as who they were, there anymore. Basically if there was a way to turn what is an “ending” for them into a revaluation and revolution.

So that everything they represented doesn’t just get left behind - but rather informs what will be to come.

It’s a way of carrying on that character without using that character but rather using what it is they taught. The themes and the lessons - the substance of them.

I am aware that a character is an idea and a portrayal of that idea. But why is it when we lose the character do we have to lose the idea of them? Why they matter?

Shouldn’t that be what continues even if they can’t? Because isn’t that the whole point of having them be there in the first place? Isn’t that why they’re in the narrative to begin with? We don’t have to lose that.

We have to lose them but not what they represent. ‘Cause all it shows me when ideas get left behind like that is that that character was never that important. They were disposable and expendable. Exhaustible.

And to which then I ask why were they there at all?

It’s infuriating when TV shows introduce us to characters that will ultimately just get shafted. And they just basically move on without their eulogy.

Characters are an idea that get embedded within the story to represent something significant about it to learn from or to be inspired/motivated by. Just because that character has to leave the narrative doesn’t mean that what we can learn from them does and I challenge TV show creators and showrunners to show that a character can be killed off to ratify the what they represented in the story instead of nullify it.