#some people have done legit stories and creative stuff

[charmac]

As it is completely allowed to write a Sunny story for this Four Walls contest thing, I have submitted an offering to Rob's crypto scam site.

What I've done is re-written the little S.I.N.N.E.D. System one-shot I wrote last year to take place in Paddy's instead (so it qualifies as a "bar story," and something new) and I've taken out anything "Sexually suggestive" (bc apparently that's not allowed).

I've reasoned that, while I would personally never relinquish my rights to anything original, it's not like my thousand words here can even stand alone outside of the IP of Sunny. I mean, it completely relies on it. So I'm not losing any creative rights I could have claimed anyway, there's a pretty high chance R(CG) get led into reading a little Macdennis fanfiction, and there's actual money on the table. I'm not sure there's any other way you could legally profit off fanfiction.. other than something like this.

Fuck it. Whatever. Rob thinks his metaverse shit is happening but it's flopping so hard they need to use fans to get their companies a smidge of engagement, so I will take their plots and their characters and give them a lead in to gay porn (bc if I don't "win," I will be adding 3k words of smut to this thing and publishing it to Ao3) and never use his site again.

I would like the gay zoomer protection money to become a reality, but simply the art of being able to submit Macdennis fanfiction in response to their marketing bait does it for me.

[eisforeidolon]

Question: With your new projects, with Countdown and I guess your guest starring arc on Fire Country, like, why did y'all choose those projects? Specifically, like, what to expect on Countdown, 'cause Jensen, you've done a lot of projects that have been a bit traumatizing, so.

Jensen: Well, expect no different. It's - well, the reason that this show kinda came to be, or I came to be a part of it? So I had a, like, in the wake of The Boys, I signed a deal with Amazon, they wanted to develop a project and kind of develop something with me in mind. So I had a few meetings with different writers and different kind of takes for shows. When I met Derek Haas who created Countdown and has written all thirteen scripts? I just, I clicked with him immediately, he and I are actually grew up in the same town, we went to neighboring high schools, so we had a lot in common right off the bat. But he's just a really great storyteller and he comes from a long line of just writing really kind of intense type of stuff. And so the character that he created, I just, I felt like I could tell that story in the world that he was also creating. And so that lead to more meetings and then that lead to some outlines and I got to read the first script, and I just kind of really - I liked where it was going, I liked the kind of world that he was setting it in and I got excited about it, and so that's kinda what we're doing and where I'm at right now. I was fortunate enough to be in a position to do that and be there from kinda the beginning, the genesis of it all. 'Cause that's not normal for most actors, most actors, it's everything is kind of already cooked and then they come in and they get cast as a role that's already, it's already happening. This I was kind of - not involved creatively? But I was already on the train from the beginning in the station. So that was nice, and it is going to be - there are some twists and turns with this show, there are some big reveals, so to speak, so it's -

Jared: Not his butt.

Jensen: No, no.

Jared: Not just his butt.

Jensen: That's a different show. So I'm excited for you guys to - I'm excited to get it done, we're about half way done with the season right now. I think they're shooting for a June probably release, next summer? And I'm excited to see what you guys think and to see it once it's on its feet.

Jared: Hell yeah, I can't wait, man. For me, Fire Country, per se? Was kind of different. So I spoke for many years, and I know some people have heard this, who have been around for a while? But after Supernatural was done, I wanted to take some time. That's not the way it kinda worked out, 'cause Walker started really quickly and shortly thereafter? But in my head, I wanted to kinda have a couple of years or whatever where I - this sounds very arrogant, but, like, a friend calls and says, hey wanna come work with me, or something? That did work out with Max, who is a buddy of mine, a buddy of Jensen's, and when we found out Walker didn't go, it was like, hey dude, so sorry, you wanna come to Vancouver and play a little bit? And I was like *gasp* this is what I think I've always wanted. Just like uh hey, Kripke, doing anything? Hey Max, doing anything? Hey Jensen, doing anything? Y'know, and kinda hopping in and out. And so it was a fun time, and I spent nineteen straight years as number one on the call sheet, y'know, and that takes a lot. Takes a lot, and I'm not complaining myself, but my friends and family, the way I work, it's kind of all-consuming? I don't do it on purpose, but I wanted to be there - you know, my kids are twelve, ten, and seven and I want to be there for them and help them with homework and help them go to school and to soccer and to piano and to therapy and this and that. And I mean that, like, legit, they go to therapy every week, and I'm very proud of that and I hope they carry it on into adulthood. But I wanted to be [audience cheers] yeah, yeah, yeah. And so with Fire Country, which was three episodes, it was one of those situations where a close friend for a decade said hey you wanna come play in Vancouver in my sandbox, and I was like, yeah, for sure. And so I haven't seen the episodes yet, I did ADR, I meant to watch them last night but got distracted, but I'll watch them and I hope y'all enjoy it. And I can't wait for Countdown.

[boxed-n-bottled-arson]

DO YOU WANNA SUPPORT A WICKED SICK INDIE PROJECT? PLEASE PAUSE FOR A SEC AND GIVE THIS A READ!!!! 

Hi! I don’t really make posts about the shenanigans I get up to nowadays, but for the past year or so me and six other friends have been pouring our heart and soul into a neat little indie project called “Project Ghostie”. It’s a mystery/comedy/minor dystopia audio drama about a found family of graffiti artist ghosts trying to discover how they died. The entire story is seen through the perspective of a reporter character aka the viewer! I would absolutely love it if you guys would give the first episode a quick watch/listen, as I am the co-creator and one of the main VA’s of the show! 

So, if you like:

Shows made by queer people (all of our VA’s are trans and queer! With the creators being an Aroace demi-guy and a beloved unlabeled king :) )

Shows featuring queer characters (We have main characters that use a variety of pronouns including it/its, they/she/he, he/they, and they/them!)

Shows focused on found family dynamics instead of romance (I as the head writer am aroace and can 100% guarantee there will be no romance plots in this show and instead just a lot of family dynamics and friendships)

Shows with anti-capitalist themes and crime (yippee!)

Shows with cool silly references (Our banner totally doesn’t features refs to a mcyt creator I adore or a fake singer with blue pigtails hehe)

Shows that you can listen to and/or read! (Yup! Don’t wanna listen to Project Ghostie? We have a fully written/novelized version instead you can read for free! Link to it is in the video description :D)

Shows that can GUARANTEE no AI used ever in the creative process (This series will never feature or endorse generative AI in its writing, art-making, or voice acting process. Fuck generative AI, that shit can burn in hell)

Shows that can be enjoyed by ANY kind of viewer (I used to listen to a lot of audio dramas that had a character that was supposed to ‘be’ the viewer, yet never really encompassed everyone. So, I've done my best to make the viewer's character (known as just “the reporter”) fit people of almost any gender (they are referred to with they/them pronouns), weight, race, background, etc!)     

Curious about the characters included? Check them out over at The Project Ghostie Tumblr, where we have some silly meet the characters posts!

Again, it would genuinely mean the world to me if you would even just skim through the video, follow the YT channel/Tumblr, or reblog this post. This project is legit my child and is basically a ton of unfinished projects lovingly sewn together to make something I am unbelievably proud of. Me and my friends make absolutely no money off this, it is just our silly passion project, but we intend on making 25 episodes plus some cool bonus stuff, and I’d love to have you along for the ride!

(And hey, even if you don’t like the story, maybe just follow the Tumblr for some cool art? I’ve improved a lot since I last posted my art on here, and I know it’s not fandom related anymore, but if you like my goofy style, check it  out ^w^)

Anyways, watch the first episode: HERE

Or read it: HERE

[cryptid-crawly]

Advice for Writing Fanfic

Assume your readers know what’s up. People read fanfic because they are, well, fans. Write with the assumption that your readers know the basics of the source material.

Don’t rewrite canon scenes unless you’ve significantly changed them. Whether it’s and AU or canon divergence, reading a play-by-play of the exact same scene as in canon (or one nearly identical with few or cosmetic changes) gets really old really fast. If there’s an important minor change, reference it in an original scene. If nothing changed and it’s canon divergence, your readers will assume it’s the same as canon. Want to rewrite an iconic canon scene in some vastly different AU? Change it up. Identify what elements of the scene are the most important and make something new that keeps the essence of those things.

Do not change your tags after the fact. To elaborate: this *specifically* means that you shouldn’t tag your fic with something only to go “ah-ha! It was a red herring!” and delete the tag later. Don’t do that. (A very dramatic example is tagging the fic as Everyone Lives/No One Dies and then deleting that later so you can have a surprise character death). Yeah, you might change your mind. In that case, let your readers know in the Author’s notes. But don’t do this on purpose.

Don’t worry about spoiling your plot. Have the greatest plot ever? Awesome! But people aren’t reading fanfic for new and original ideas (it’s transformative work for a reason). It’s great to write a complex and compelling story, but remember that first and foremost, people read fanfic to have a comfortable and familiar experience. It really really sucks to read 50k of something only to have a new tag/element thrown in as a surprise twist, when you intentionally try to filter that stuff out.

Write your summary to reflect what tropes/ships/setting your fic will have. This is part of not worrying about spoilers. Again, you may have a fantastic idea, but if you’re too afraid of spoiling it you may leave out too many details in the summary and people won’t be interested. Let your readers know what this story is about! Don’t be afraid to spoil some of the plot—I guarantee you it will make some people excited to “get to that point” in the fic. (For example, if character A secretly being a werewolf is an early plot twist, maybe don’t worry so much about revealing that in the summary?)

Don’t say you suck at summaries in the summary. Just trust me on this one. Write a summary like you’re convincing yourself to read the fic. Slap it on and go.

Stop using greenette, [color]-ette etc. That’s not done in published fiction.

Read published fiction. I don’t care what you read but read some of it occasionally. Otherwise you get used to the way that other fanfic writers write and ily all and am blown away by the creativity people put out into the world but many writers are new and learning and you’ll pick up bad habits. I personally recommend reading literary classics because 8 times out of 10 the writing is legit good. Not always, but it’s easier to guarantee good quality then just picking a random book.

Write for yourself. Yeah, whatever, this is lame advice. But it’s also true. Write what you want to read, otherwise you probably won’t have any fun. Eventually you’ll get to a point where you’re confident in your writing and you can go back and read your stuff and go “I am the funniest motherfucker in the room” and you’ll be right. (Replace “funniest” with whatever genre term applies to you. Like “angstiest”. Ignore that that isn’t a word.)

Comment on other people’s fics with questions. So technically this goes with the read published works one but it applies to both. The point is to develop literary analysis skills. When you read anything, think about it. Vague and unhelpful advice? Hell yeah that is. So if you want some concrete starting places: when you’re reading fic, ask yourself if you agree with how the author characterized your fav. Why did they act that way? Would you have written it that way? And engage with the author! This doesn’t mean point-blank saying “well I would’ve written it like this…” but if you notice a character decision you agree/disagree on or is interesting, simply ask “hey [xyz] scene/moment was interesting, why did you decide [blorbo] would do that?” Understand why authors made the choices they did in their writing. Learn. Grow. Flourish. Take over the world.

Occasionally revisit the source material. Reread or watch it or whatever applies. Dump fanon out of your head and think about the source. Please. I love you all, but please. Thank you.

To anyone who writes fanfic: I love you and thank you for sharing with the world. Hope this helps.

[misc-obeyme]

oh I love talking abt tbwse my creativity block is go n e

I like to think most of them don't live at the castle, though. Like they just work there and come and go and have varying shifts. Uhh but that's if they're just normal people and not criminals lol!

this too! in my hc Lil Ds, Maidservants, cooks & scullions and others with a criminal past lived at the castle while others worked shifts. some also didn't need shifts since their jobs weren't that heavy. some of the ones who's family live far away from the castle also do live there, younger ones as well. oh to be a teen wingless demon running erands at the castle and knowing Barbatos....,,,

I suppose whether or not they actually did something terrible has to do with how deranged you want Diavolo to be. Like if he was really kinda off the deep end, he could absolutely just obtain people he thinks are pretty and for no other reason. That's real villain behavior generally speaking. But if you want him to be a little less that way, you could say they were criminals. Then at least there's a legit reason for it, even if the punishment is a bit intense... they are demons, so really there's a lot of ways you can go with it!

My Diavolo is the villain.. in other people's stories lol /j i just love my man being a tiny bit cruel. he's actually pretty kind, and way kinder than the older kings. they ruled with iron fists and even something as small as stealing bread for your hungry child was punished with amputation-

the past devildom was horrible to say if you weren't a noble. When Diavolo took over the throne it became way better and even commoners could live a comfortable life.

most of those "I just thought they're pretty" staff are from the timed either he was a child or still new to the throne. he did learn, although still sometimes he can't help it. plus, demons are hard to rule, they're not like humans. one sign of weakness and you're done for. if it wasn't for Diavolo showing his power, MC & the angels were possibly dead at the first weeks lol (although, since RAD .. is a royal academy, the students are nobles or have family members work at the castle, similar things. also its smth like all grades are there so Luke makes sense >:( RAD isn't that populated as well- but itsbpopulated with famous people >:) )

but that doesn't mean the whole city RAD takes place in is like that though!. RAD may be safe, but the outdoors are not.

Ohh it sounds like you've worked out quite a bit about how these things work! It definitely makes sense for there to be a lot more people living and/or working at the castle.

Okay I dunno how I missed the part about Luke... if he's really supposed to be ten why is he attending school with everybody else?!?!? How did I not realize this previously?!?!?!

Anyway... that just isn't something I really thought about before, but now it's gonna bug me lol.

I think it makes sense for previous demon kings to be... well, demons. Then you get Diavolo who is still definitely a demon, but unique enough to have his own ideas, which makes him just a tiny bit softer than the others. I like the consideration of the fact that demons are harder to rule than humans. That makes sense to me. And I think canon could use a little bit more expansion on that in general. Just because they aren't humans, but sometimes the stuff the characters say makes me go hmm.

But anyway, I quite like your worldbuilding here, expanding on canon in a way that makes it a little darker, but also more realistic. Since we are dealing with demons!

I don't mind the demons being fluffy at all, but it's also interesting to explore them being more villainous in general!

[zuppizup]

do you have any tips you'd like to offer for fanfic writing? your fanfics are amazing snd and i just dont know how you do it

Oh Nonny, honestly you are just way too kind. I really don’t know what tips I can give because honestly, I don’t really know what I’m doing but I shall try. 😅

Writing absolutely is not my day job (far from it) and I have no formal training in it. I just kinda muddle my way through. I really appreciate your kind words though, so I’ll try and share some things I’ve found helpful in my fanfic writing journey.

Write - yep, it’s boring and you hear it all the time but practice makes, well, better. Week to week, month to month, and year to year I see improvement in my writing and so much of that is down to writing… just writing. Not all of it is fit to be seen, but challenging myself by writing often (I try to write something ever day, even if it’s just a thought or a line of dialogue that strikes me) honestly feels like the number one way my writing has improved over the years.

Actively reading stuff I enjoy. So if a fic or a piece of media really grabs me, makes me feel emotional and captivated I try and dissect that. What about it caught my interest? Was it the the character development or the descriptions, world building or how the creator built atmosphere and tension? It’s not about trying to emulate a work you admire, but learning what about it you like and enjoy and seeing how you can adapt that to your particular style.

Writing what you want to read. For me this is a major thing. I write the stories I am interested in. I fundamentally write for me, and so it’s easier to focus and get drawn in by a story because I want to see how it ends. It’s absolutely wonderful if other people are interested in what I write (and publish… coz a lot of it sits on my hard drive…) but I’d still be writing regardless, because I want to know how everything works out.

Try and find fandom friends to be unhinged with. Absolutely easier said than done but if you can and you’re that way inclined, then finding some fandom crazies can be so helpful. I have no idea how many stories I’ve written based off a random “hey guys, can you imagine-” comment that got enabled all to hell. (Hello, enablers!!!)

Have fun! Honestly, this is the most important thing about being a fan writer for me. I’m here to grab my blorbos and throw them into situations and get them out of that situation. I’ve done it repeatedly and I’ll do it again. Coz it’s fun. Because I’m enjoying myself. And I won’t lie, the wonderful community we have, the amazing friends I’ve made and have blast with, the support and kindness I get is beyond description but I’ve been playing in various sandboxes for years (mostly by myself) and I’ve still the most fun exploring my imagination and creativity.

I’m sure other, more articulate and well studied people have far better and more useful insights (there’s legit so much writing advice on YouTube) but those are my random thoughts on the subject. If anyone has something they’d like to add, please do! Because I am absolutely always open up to tips and insights myself. You can never stop learning ☺️

[rubykgrant]

that's what the Lion King live-action should have been; a fake "nature documentary", with actual animals running around, some of it legit, and some of staged to create a vague "plot" that follows the general story of "father lion dies in stampede, lion cub gets run off and lives with a meerkat/warthog for a while, new lion takes over pride but doesn't defend it from other predators so hyenas become a problem, lioness leave pride to hunt solo, finds the now mature lion, he returns and has a fight for the pride, ROAR", (some scenes are changed slightly/rearranged to seem more "natural", like stuff with Rafiki and Zazu etc), the songs are still used as "ambience" moments, a few scenes are done with CGI or practical effects (because it can be hard to make an animal do a specific thing), and it is all narrated by James Earl Jones

(but also, they need to STOP making all these "live action" movies because there is absolutely no decent structure to them, or creative enthusiasm. a few are almost decent, or really COULD have been good, but can't seem to really get there, and I don't understand people who go see them like it is some OBLIGATION- "Yeah, I didn't like the last 4 live-action movies, and this one doesn't seem like it will be good... but it's Disney", actual thing I heard somebody say. they don't actually own your soul, you don't need to give them your money. please. oh, also important; everybody who throws a fit because "this princess is supposed to be white" or any similar complaint, just needs to shut up. no, I don't believe you when you try to make up "reasons" for why Black Ariel "isn't accurate", your opinion is instantly incorrect and not needed)

[tirfpikachu]

hiiii ^w^" things got so hectic omfg. i've been struggling to glowup as an adult phew!!! trying to have more server streams of me Getting Shit Done and film them for later youtube vlogs. i got so caught up in fumbling with so many household things and trying to juggle all the awesome projects i've been working on with server fwiends. i feel like there's so much i can accomplish but it's all one big puzzle and i'm trying not to slip and fall flat on my face again. it's a constant battle with me and my dumb genius brain.

rambling some more ic <3

i'm also still getting the hang of managing a server that keeps growing bigger! i want to do things so good, i care about my server gyns so much. but i don't want to be flaky in here either, bc the folks in here mean the world to me too. y'all give me hope. i got a bit exhausted from the doom and gloom of my radblr dash, but i don't want to give up. i can't. i've been trying to take lil breaks on my alternate account where my dash isn't so politically intense and angsty. i need to hold onto hope too! i need a space where i follow conflicting voices to draw my own conclusions and research for my writing, but i also need to have a less stressful space to see positive things too. maybe i should just follow more fandom & positive blogs on here too...? i'm open to recs that are tirf-friendly! i'm trying super duper hard not to burnout as an activist but it gets rly tough. i started feeling overwhelmed and like anytime i logged on it was gonna be a battle everytime. but i don't want that!

i think i should start posting more about my OCs and my sapphic fiction and poetry etc, because i've been doing so much conflict based activism and i need a softer outlet creatively. i'm a bit worried about disappointing people who are coming here for my deep political analysis stuff... i'll make sure to use a tag that y'all can block. i need to get over my fear of annoying others, that's counterproductive and i legit do not need to do it. this is MY blog and my lil corner of the web, i can do whatever the heck i want. pls remember you can block my tags if it gets too much, but i'll try to loosen up a bit and be less strict about what i post. i also want to add positivity to the world!! there are so many forms of activism i wanna explore, and meaningful fiction as well. i'm going to be more active on my ao3 as well.

btw here's my ao3 >w>

There's only a few abandoned fics right now, but I set up something where I can put one-shots of my OCs and rambles about my story!

[the-old-man-has-the-phonebox]

She vent on my post til I—

(More or less just a public diary counting the good and bad things of today, until the end)

Today was fucking shit.

Could not wake up for the life of me, even when using my Sonic Bomb alarm clock with the fucking bed shaker.

Was able to use my new Keurig! ✅ (It wasn’t great, but in hindsight I realized I forgot to put any sugar in it like a dumbass)

Forgot my shampoo at home, had to run out and buy drugstore shit that’s gonna aggravate my eczema so fucking badly.

Shower curtain didn’t close right during my shower so I had to spend a good 15 minutes wiping up the bathroom floor and wringing out the rug and towels.

Went to all my classes, including my lab that I’ve been avoiding! ✅🥳

Got told “maybe you should put yourself out of your misery 😄” by someone. Emoji included. (Not violating any policies off the app it was on, though! The app made sure to tell me that. 🥰)

Got an exercise done in-class, and I’m proud of the quality!

Got chastised by one of the adjuncts (that’s like <30, so that’s fun) in the group chat for the School for the Arts for criticizing an artist that used AI because the main media coverage of her is legit just her being like “eh, creatives will lose their jobs because of work like mine replacing them. :/“. Like… bestie. This school just publicly stated its alumni can find any form of employment less than half of the time. Over 50% of alumni can’t get a job, period. I think I have a right to bitch about Miss AI Art is stopping by to gloat with that information.

Or maybe they were right. Maybe I’m worse of a person than I think I am. I mean, it definitely tracks: why do I have no friends here? Why am I treated like I’m fucking diseased when I go out and interact with others on campus? Why do none of the professors in my major have a positive opinion of me, if any opinion at all?

This isn’t some “woe is me” shit I’m trying to pull, I’m just doing the internet equivalent to talking out loud here: maybe I really am a bad person. Because a bad person wouldn’t be able to recognize that they’re bad without outside interference, they either justify their behavior or think they’re good. So maybe I am. Maybe I’m judgmental and cruel. Maybe that’s why irl I do it get kindness reciprocated to me by my peers— outside of my own perspective, I’m not kind. Maybe my sense of self and behavior is so warped that I think it’s kindness when it’s barely “simply not being an asshole”. But I don’t know how to be any nicer than I already am besides, like, outlandish shit à la the fruit basket in A Christmas Story.

I’ve been starting to wonder if my therapist has been lying about stuff like this. Because she says I’m one of the kindest people she knows, and that I have the best qualities someone would look for in a friend, and obviously I’ve been doubting the sincerity for a while due to, well, no evidence of me actually having any traits anyone would want in a real-life, physical friendship. Maybe she’s just trying to make me feel better because she knows I won’t handle realizing I’m a shitty person well.

[yes-these-obsessions-are-healthy]

I know Twitter isn’t real life, but it’s baffling to me how easily people have dropped Taika Waititi because of Thor Love and Thunder. They claim he’s big-headed, annoying, and unfunny, that since he’s landed a big project like MCU he’s become another dickhead director and it’s like.. the Anne Hathaway effect or some shit. It’s like the moment someone touches the MCU or Disney or whatever, their credibility and work is called into question. People go back and scrutinize shit for no reason because a movie they made might have been a bit overhyped or whatever. 

It’s fine if you don’t like Waititi’s sense of humor--I personally like it in What We Do in the Shadows and Our Flag Means Death, didn’t like it so much in Thor Ragnarok since it felt a bit too joke-y for my tastes--and it’s fine if you simply don’t jive with what he’s doing, but people need to stop discounting artists and creators as hacks or overblown because YOU don’t like them. 

Not to mention that at the end of the day he’s still Some Guy. He’s not the second coming of Christ. He is not the sole purveyor of queer rep. He will inevitably make mistakes. And as for people claiming he’s gotten a big head: There’s a reason why--it’s difficult for the human mind to remain humble when confronted with extreme fame and being bombarded with zealous fandom culture that has developed in the past two decades. I’m not saying that a big ego isn’t a problem, but you try remaining grounded when you’re constantly bombarded by messages on all the social media that you’re perfect and the greatest and blah blah blah. Only someone with the most fucked gutter-level sense of self-esteem wouldn’t be affected by that. 

I guess in the end, the MCU is poison for creative minds. God knows Disney isn’t going to let you do anything groundbreaking, and people need to stop expecting groundbreaking stuff from a franchise that is getting progressively more tired and worn out with each entry. People have MCU fatigue. Fanboys bitch and moan like always and nothing fantastic is being done with the stories, nor are the actors being directed in a way that allows them to actually feel like the characters they’re meant to play. It’s just green screens and CGI and secret scripts. 

And also-also, Taika Waititi isn’t infallible, but he’s not the worst person in the world. Also he’s not white. I’ve legit seen people on Tumblr claim he is. He’s not white. 

[sharonisthebettercarter]

gotta love camp, gore, and comedic horror~<3

lmao there's obviously def much more to them than that, but those i'd say are the main ones. ennis definitely gets much more gripe from people unwilling to actually understand his work/accept that he has a stylistic approach/want him to censor himself tho (altho i have def seen people gripe about junji ito's work for similar reasons/complaints, "too much body horror"? c'mon people... leik it's fine if that ain't your thing, but don't act like a personal preference is a legitimate criticism. it's not.)

i saw one person boil it down pretty well, 'a lot of what people complain as being 'edgy' in garth ennis' works is just how he does his world building'.

but at this point? can't even count how many people i've seen say 'hE's BeTtEr WiTh An EdItOr' about ennis. never mind the fact that they take credit away from the *actual* artist/writer here and give it to possible *limitations* set, what they really mean is not only that they think he's incapable of doing less hardcore stuff of his own volition, but that they prefer his style filtered, cut up, censored and toned down as much as possible to make themselves more cozy... as if his work should be 'cozy' with the themes he's typically trying to convey...

never been one for the hays code or artists having to destroy their own work to meet it, but puritans and pearl clutchers have not caught up to the understanding that censorship and things like the hays code are BAD.

jesus, if i had a nickel for every time someone gave an (extremely ignorant and puritanical) opinion perfectly reflecting the affect of the hays code on people's understanding of media and cultural sensibilities--

a majority of people who've read the boys comics and call them "bad" can't even decipher what the themes of the comic are. that's not the fault of the comic. it is literally placed in plain view and given front and center attention and focus--

the military industrial complex. that entire comic is a criticism of the military industrial complex and grotesque capitalism, and there are literal *passages* upon *passages* of people talking about this shit within the comic and telling stories related to it. it is the *central* theme and people are legit dumb enough to look through *ALL that* and go 'tHeRe'S nO pOiNt!'

purity culture kills creativity, art, nuance, and media literacy.

anyway.

i think the biggest difference is the art. ennis tends to choose artists with styles that veer more towards comic semi-realism, or are rough and kinda ragged. there's definitely not a goal of eye candy or anything pretty to look at which i think has it's pros and cons for how people may interpret the work (i notice they tend to respond better/be more forgiving to prettier art lmao pretty privilege even in art i guess) but is ultimately done with a stylistic approach/purpose in mind.

ito's work is incredibly beautiful on the regular, but then contrasts heavily with the grotesque and horrifying scenes he creates. i think it works really well for the kind of work he makes but also may skew the perception of his work a bit (thematically). def not complaining but i'll get to that.

ennis is also completely unafraid and unfiltered of touching on sexual/assault themes (without straight up making porn), probably because he grew up without any sort of purity culture lens/religious upbringing that would make him squeamish about that stuff. full stop, only reason it's seen as a taboo theme is because of remnant hays code bullshit and purity culture (if you ever wondered why you don't see people griping on murder and mass genocide nearly as much as 'ohmygod a rape happened!!11!1', this is why. and i fucking HATE that the other two are somehow regarded as *more acceptable* fictional crimes or even *real life crimes* for some odd fucking reason but that's a separate issue i'm not gonna get into now), but it absolutely should be normalized enough as a topic for it to not be this heavy burden that makes people want to hide/be ashamed/never come forward about.

that's fucked up and does victims a lot more harm than good, but of course puritanical pro censorship goons will never acknowledge how much they're views and hostility contribute *heavily* to victim blaming and silencing. for real, the people claiming 'RaPe Is OnLy UsEd FoR sHoCk VaLuE' seriously have zero fucking clue just how prevalent this shit is or more likely--do not want to acknowledge it.

if rape as a theme is 'shocking' to you, it's because you are desensitized to it getting *swept under the rug*.

ennis also tends to make fair commentary about it happening so often but not being reported or even accepted by the victim themself (especially with men, he actually handled hughie's and other boys in 'the boys' traumas related to this pretty well/realistically) he can also tend to hyper demonize the rapists he makes by making them unhinged/monstrous/ugly/gross, etc. and making them scary for most if not everyone around them (i actually have mixed feelings about this because not every rapist 'looks/feels/acts like a rapist' but may still be just as dangerous if not more, and to some degree he's touched on that too including the victim to abuser cycle!!! but i do admit i like the hyper demonizing from a metaphorical place)

altho that's not to say ito is exactly shy about that stuff either. literal ancestor forehead centipede guy chasing that poor woman to 'plant his heir' while she's having a mental breakdown? insane cannibal lady killing/eating all this dude's friends and him getting an 'unknown' fate at her mercy that was likely being raped and then eaten? fucking tomie (both what happens to her and then how she is a monstrous manipulator and abuser), etc.--yeah, he's not exactly pulling punches or doing anything less crazy here

tomie especially goes *dark* into the body horror/rape and sexual abuse themes. the constant dismemberment of tomie has an undercurrent of rape if not the story itself, the constant threats, unnatural allure and manipulations from tomie, how she is both victim and victimizer, how she doesn't really get a choice in the monster that she is or being hacked up over and over, and at the same time doesn't give a choice to the people driven insane by her, but she is driven to use and compel men to do horrific things to her so she can *reproduce* in her weird and fucked up 'every limb becomes a new me' way. that's why the undercurrent of rape is so strong when she's hacked up, it is literally a metaphorical version of it that we are witnessing. it's so strong throughout the stories because she pretty much mind rapes and abuses people until they end up so fucked up that they assault her--and thus the cycle continues. and let's not get started on her fucking teacher. but fuck man, that's shit's intense (and def one of his more conceptually explorative works i feel tho literally inspired by lizard tails LMAO--)

creepy stalkers do also tend to be a theme for him, but other than that ito def likes using *a lot* of metaphors for this stuff in particular, generally more 'artsy' about it (kinda don't like framing it that way?? but i think it's a good comparison. ennis is more direct, ito is more indirect, with exception to 'crossed' which is *PURE GORE/HORROR*, neither of them get very graphic tho. and def never anywhere near what some hentai does. possibly not quite at 'wolf guy's level of depiction either?? but it has been a while so i could be misremembering that one. also holy fuck was that story incredible but so messed up--)

overall ito does have less interest in that/more interest in the weird, wild and kooky, but main concepts wise and execution? without looking at art, i can definitely see lots of distinct similarities (differences too, but it would be wholly ignorant and terribly disingenuous to deny the similarities, good chance someone who'd deny any similarity whatsover is either lying or has no real familiarity with the work of either gentleman, *especially* with all that *CAMP* LMAO<3 ;)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

ito's work is often very basic and born of very simple and silly concepts. grease, a snail with a girl's head as the shell, spirals, etc. sometimes it goes deeper (the head centipede and the weight of the ancestors/expectation on the younger generation is a good example, gyo with japan's wwii stuff which def touches on similarish themes as the boys and the hellscape of weaponization, but for japan lol).

but the simplicity lends an air of absolute absurdity to it once you boil down the themes. and it actually contrasts a great deal with the artwork in some ways. a lot of ito's work is intentionally crazy, hectic, or silly--

side note, i actually think the sometimes excessive camp in his work is the main reason the animes were not as well received/did not translate how people wanted. ain't no hidin' that level of camp in an already admittedly campy medium lmfao--

butt~ souichi? chizumi? ridiculous, and definitely he's having a shitload of fun doing random shit with these characters and making them torment others. but his art often makes it *feel* more dramatic than it really is. amigara fault was effective and left you thinking but also kind of hilarious. sometimes the way he draws is as hilarious as it is horrifying. the hanging balloons were fucking mental.

there are people who debate whether or not he's intentionally putting in the humor, and some don't think he is, but i def think he is. even if it's only supposed to be an aftereffect. the guy over all is generally silly with a good sense of humor. it makes sense to me he would mingle that with his horror in a good balance and i think he does a great job of that.

on a personal note, it feels kind of patronizing toward him to see people automatically assume that he just wouldn't have this understanding?? or that he wouldn't be capable of intentionally balancing the two/his work *must* be serious/dramatic but he 'doesn't realize' how nonsensical the themes he picks are. how can he be a 'master of horror' if he's doing so much in his work 'accidentally'?. 'accidental master of horror'??? lmao that'd be hilarious but i def don't think that's the case with him.

that's where i feel his art kinda disconnects with his stories, or at least for his general audience it does. his art can be super dramatic/thrilling, but i'm pretty sure he's fully aware he's pairing it with silly and simple themes half the time. i think the contrast of the two is intentional too.

anywho~ for ennis?

ooh, that is a doozy. this guy... he tends to understand things on a fundamental level that you could not make this shit up. he can make his work, i think, *way* too intelligent for a lot of people. or more likely i should say, his work goes way too deep for the untrained eye and too many people are *way* too damn untrained, and some of it is very blink and you miss it, but some is very obvious and in your face that it makes me wonder how people can be *that* level of blind.

*cough*the boys*cough*

this guy even put in a distinct cultural miscommunication that not all people are aware of. he had billy refer to a black man as 'son' (if i remember correctly), and here's the thing, billy does that. occasionally calls people younger than him 'son', but it's not meant in any sort of derogatory/belittling way. but here's the kicker. for black men? that ain't quite the case. white men especially used to use words like 'son' and 'boy' in a derogatory/belittling way used as a means of infantilizing them, so it can be interpreted as racist.

ennis not only understood this, he had billy immediately understand it, and both characters responded accordingly. the black man was upset, billy immediately noted he'd made an error in cross-cultural translation, and the result was a nasty altercation.

ennis is even smart enough to recognize exactly how white men in power tend to want to depict black people and women in certain (racist and sexist) ways that make white people comfortable (because everything/everyone is neatly in a box of familiar sterotypes). and he showed this using satire with starlight. the deep. even with the g-men and the way godolkin treated the black kids he got his hands on (hell, add dear becky to that list too).

ennis makes an intricate effort to access the *full spectrum* of emotions from readers while telling a story with a much deeper meaning or criticism behind it. he def can be a bit on the nose, simple, silly, whacky, but the satire tends to be on point, the nuance and themes discussed are designed to make you *think*, really *think* (tho pretty obvious some people genuinely hate that, i guess it must make their heads hurt lol)

i do def think he makes an effort to research his themes *very* thoroughly tho, maybe troll the people who he knows aren't gonna bother making the effort to get it lmao

but it's kind of interesting because in aspects of their stylizations and artistic approach, their work is almost done to an opposite effect, with similar but different results.

ennis' work tends to seem whacky or simpler on a more surface level, prefers the discomfort of brutal reality, but has a shit ton of deeper themes and more serious topics touched on under that surface, ito's work tends to seem dramatic and intense on the surface, prefers the discomfort of unexplained mystery, but tends to be much simpler and very silly on a deeper level.

i think overall the main answer is gonna be purity culture and lack of understanding, but def they both LOVE gore, body horror, CAMP, and combining comedy with horror FOR SURE lmfao. and they both do an incredible job of it!

honestly? however unlikely, i would love love LOVE to see what we could get if someone put these two motherfuckers on a project together<3

[tallymenblesta]

Just thinking about the Control DLC will be coming out some time in the future and I just thought to myself how Ajay probably enjoys murder because it's legitimately the only control he ever gets in any situation. Whether he chooses to side with Amita or Sabal, whether he spares a person's life or not, I think that's his only way to gain back his free will as a person which makes Far Cry 4 really depressing in that perspective. Ajay legit single handedly saved Kyrat in the story and fixes any situation with murder, and because of that he ends up becoming less of just a gun but an artist. Like, even one of the notes you can find implies that Ajay's really creative in how he murders people. Not to mention people always praise and thank him heavily for killing so long as he saved the ones that are most important. Frankly it would be nice to see if Ajay's quiet and humble nature is what makes him revel in the killing, for the praise, the glory, and the recognition that he probably otherwise wouldn't get if he didn't prove to others he's not useless. Heck, the first thing he does is ask how he can help out. So I feel like sometimes Ajay does things for the right thing and otherwise does it to gloat and be rewarded. In other words, Ajay could really use some appreciation without having to kill to recieve it. Too much positive reinforcement in the wrong places, though not much could be done since he got sucked up in a war ha.

Anyways that's my TedTalk, I might draw more FC4 stuff in the future, so please give me some ideas! Just go to my ask thingy

[otanukii]

alright so, I just finished the story mode of ‘legends of arceus’ and I really want organize my thoughts about this game, dude. 

I haven’t been this excited for a pokemon game in a long time! the gameplay is so new and fun! I was at work and I wanted it to be 6 pm so I could go home and play pokemon.

is it a fantastic game? No. But I do believe that, after a decade, the game developers wanted to try something new, and they are definitely on the right track!

if they keep moving forward with this format and polish the bad stuff, we have a potential for a fantastic pokemon game. 

so I want to highlight the stuff I really liked!

- exploring each area where different pokemon roam around is fantastic. trying to discover pokemon in each area is really fun! That moment where you see something in the distance and you cannot tell what it is, so you run closer to see a pokemon you haven’t seen before. honestly, free senontonin every single time. 

- I love how you can snipe pokemon like a goddamn rogue. it gives you an opportunity to catch all sorts of pokemon without having to battle them every single time. 

- the fact each pokemon behaves differently whenever you approach them is a nice detail that gives the pokemon a little more personality. 

the big scary pokemon chase after you, pokemon like misdreavus, abra and Eevee run away after seeing you. And then you have pokemon like shellos and Aipom who just kind of... vibe with you XD I know it wasn’t programmed that way, but I was on an island with Aipom and the way they move made it seem like they wanted to get in my field of vision so they could show off they can stand on one foot... honestly aipom 10/10 for that moment alone. 

- The fact that pokemon can just... chase after you and attack you out of the blue is honestly kind of exciting. don’t try to make eye contact with pokemon who are faster than you folks... 

- I thought that having a limited inventory would be annoying, but it actually kind of added to the adventurous difficulty, if that makes sense? XD

You don’t take more than you need whenever you travel, and make sure you have great use of it.

- A small thing, but I like how you can scroll through your party to select which pokemon you want to use for fighting. I know it makes sense since you are in an overworld, but it beats having to go to your party menu to switch your center pokemon constantly. 

- I thought the game would be holding your hand and be super easy when I first started but it was actually kind of hard at times?! like alpha pokemon were legit imtimidating, unlike the other pokemon games, you don’t have a lot of inventory potions or revive, so unless you want to keep teleporting back to camp you had to be careful. The battles with frenzied pokemon were really fun and challenging.

- I know it’s not impressive in the RPG genre, but I like how you can take requests for special items. It’s not something that pokemon has done before so good for them I guess.

- in the regular pokemon games, I slowly began to grow irritated to the fact you cannot run through an area without being forced to battle pokemon. if you want to go from point A to point B in this game, you can totally do that without battling anyone. as long as you are good enough in dodging, obviously. 

Hisui Zoroa... that’s it. that’s a plus. 

However, with that said, I do have some gripes.

- A lot of people have said it before but the graphics are kind of meh. 

in the age of the nintendo switch where breath of the wild exists on, pokemon has no excuse to look like a gamecube game. I would have also preferred if each area was more creative. like ooooh look, it’s a green field, and over there, another green field with a few ruins, this area has grains growing.

- I think it’s really annoying and unneccecary that you have to travel back to the village every time you want to go from one area to another. it’s an easy fix too like come on! 

- I like how you have to ‘research’ each and every single pokemon to complete your pokedex, I think it’s really fun... but did we really have to catch and defeat each and every single kind like 25 times? obviously, not every single pokemon is present in the game, but still, there are still a lot of them, and doing this with every single one of them is tedious. was doing it like 10 times not good enough? 

- The pokemon interraction was kind of lackluster, especially when you could feed your pokemon berries and pet them in previous games. you can only really take them out in the overworld to talk to them for a bit, and take pictures... that’s it. They don’t even run after you after taking them out.

I can totally understand people playing this and being disappointed.

 for me personally, this game fixes all the gripes I’ve had with the main series for awhile now. like I mentioned before, the fact you cannot go through an area without a pokemon wanting to battle you, how easy it is, the fact you cannot complete the pokedex without trading with other people, the gameplay always being the same. 

This game is far from perfect, but I do sincerely want it to be succesful so they can keep making games in this format and upgrade the parts that are kind of meh right now. 

[zkfanworkweek]

ZFAW Fan Content Creator Interviews: HayleyNFoster

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

For the second interview in this cycle, we have our best propaganda creator and this fandom’s hottest new artist/undisputed queen of the animatic, @hayleynfoster!

1. Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

When I was around 14 or 15 and caught Avatar: The Last Airbender on television, I was drawn in by the art style, the humor, and the wonderful characters. I caught the episodes out of order, and the first one I saw and wasn’t prepared to be sucked in by was The Waterbending Scroll. It intrigued me at that age, and the line “I’ll save you from the pirates” combined with the tension between Katara and Zuko in that whole scene was electrifying. I remember my teenage self thinking these two have so much chemistry! And when I saw a commercial on Nickelodeon that featured fanart submitted by fellow Avatar fans, I realized that I could do that to! So I set about making Zutara fanart for myself. I stumbled onto Youtube, practically in its infancy, and discovered that people set clips of Zuko and Katara set to music (And this was still in season 1 days… so people who made these amvs were the real mvps because they were able to make compelling narratives in their amvs with like practically nothing to work with!). The AMVs really spurred my interest in this couple, I remember distinctly one Zutara AMV using the Dido song White Flag utterly capturing my imagination. I found fandom shortly after, getting into deviantart and forums. But the ship really began to mean something to me when, as I was working on my drawings in the computer lab at school, a buoyant presence hovered over my shoulder noticing my Zutara art on the computer screen. The girl was someone I had never really talked to and had only seen from afar but she immediately started excitedly saying she shipped Zuko and Katara too! In this simple shared obsession, I made one of the best friends I’ve ever had and we’re still friends to this day. We would theorize and fangirl over Avatar like it was nobody’s business; we poured over bootleg San Diego Comic Con footage that showed spoilers for season 2 before it aired; we lost our freaking minds when we finally saw The Crossroads of Destiny. We had watch parties every week as Season 3 of A:TLA aired, and comforted each other when the show ended as it did (much ranting was shared). Those are some of my happiest memories from high school… all because this one pairing from this wonderful show. Even though Zutara didn’t happen, we still chat every now and then about it. Zutara will probably be a lifelong obsession, always bubbling under the surface. And without it, I would have never realized that animation was a viable career path. It really did inspire everything including the work I’m doing to this day in the animation industry. I owe a lot to this ship and to Avatar: the Last Airbender.

2. What inspires you to create zutara fanworks?

The resurgence of Avatar: The Last Airbender this year really helped sort of spark that dormant love I had for Zutara. The show’s ending still disappointed me on the rewatch, but Zuko and Katara’s relationship arc was as captivating as ever, so I turned to some fanfiction and looking at people’s pretty Zutara art and AMVs to just revel in fanon instead of getting to hung up on the actual ending of the show. But then I realized, with quarantine and my work load being pretty light, I had time to actually make all new Zutara art for myself, art I was never fully capable of making as a kid, but now could do with my 7 years of industry experience and just… life experience. And I was inspired to do some corrective animatics to satisfy my own desire for a different ending. I just really like exploring these two characters, doing different and interesting things with them, and frankly I’m inspired to make cute, fluffy, romantic art simply by virtue of living in a really sad and depressing world. Things are so crazy right now, creating art about two characters I love being in love, is comforting. And it helps to have inspiring music and amazing Zutara amvs to just sort of stir up my emotions and imagery in my head to make into animatics and art.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create?

Ohhhh… Well, It’s always nice to have people write fanfiction that puts words to my animatics. I am not that great at coming up with dialog myself, so I’ve just chosen to indulge in visuals and emotions for my boards. But when I read things like RideBoldlyRide’s take on my Reunion Animatic, it makes me pretty giddy. (They finally have voices!) :) And this is the MOST selfish thing I could request, but I’m not shy about saying how much I love well done amvs, so I will literally kill for someone to make Zutara AMVs to songs I like… Like, most of AURORA’s songs but especially Exist for Love, Sunseeker by The Naked and Famous, Promises or Take Me by Aly & AJ, Adore You by Harry Styles, Human Enough by ONR, Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, and/or Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier just… I can see the AMVs so clearly to any of these songs in my head, but I don’t have the tools or skill set at my disposal to make a compelling fan video. When I was in high school, I originally thought I wanted to go into video editing simply because I loved making very crappy AMVs (they were so bad you guys), but I figured out being a storyboard artist was more in my wheelhouse. haha

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?

If you’re new to the Zutara fandom, just have a good time! Don’t waste too much time arguing with people over your shipping preferences. I wasted so much of my teen years having pointless shipping wars with people on DeviantArt, and I’m just so much happier nowadays because I’m just making Zutara art in my little corner of the internet, and honestly, in the politest of ways, I don’t give a shit if people don’t like my art or Zutara. haha I think that’s sort of a key thing for people thinking of posting creative works here in the fandom, just make art for yourself, satisfy your own desires for the pairing, get your creative sparks flying, and create just for the joy of creating. It’s always nice to get comments and such, but simply making the art should be what spurs you on, not the external validation. And have a good time, don’t worry too much - I say as someone who worries about EVERYTHING. But honestly, making art for A:TLA is some of the most relaxed I’ve been because I make it just for me. I’m lucky others seem to like it too!

5. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven't gotten around to making?

I have an idea for a second generation storyline with my Zutara kids that involves Kya (the eldest firebending daughter) falling in love with an airbender boy (tentatively named Gora in my headcanon who’s a bit of a rabble rouser and one of Aang’s kids he had with a Kyoshi Warrior), and then they start a socialist revolution in the Fire Nation in order to dismantle all of the hierarchical societies across the Avatar world… Together Kya and Gora Fan the Flames of revolution… ehhhhh... Get it?? Oh! Oh, and then Katara, who had put in legit liberal reforms in her time as Fire Lady listens to her daughter after resisting in the first part of the story, but then realizes she can actually play a part in the dissolution of the royalty and is also active in the revolution realizing that moderate liberal reforms are no substitute for a society free of serving royalty (which she had always been uncomfortable with but had rationalized with herself that she was doing good in her capacity as Fire Lady.) I just feel like there’s a lot of cool potential for discussing these ideas and also having some aspirational change in the Avatar world. lol For aesthetics and just happy fluffy times, I can indulge in Fire Lady and Fire Lord Zuko stuff, but really at the end of the day, I take issue with the structures in a society that have to exist for monarchies to exist. Soooo, I kind of want to do my own corrective story for that… if I ever have the time or guts. On a less ambitious note, I would love to do a Zutara sparring animatic to practice doing action, but I need a good story; I am not good at doing fights just for fighting’s sake. Those are just some things I have rattling around in my head.  

6. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so want to give us a hint as to your plans?

Yes! The most I can say is I have one animatic almost finished and one that’s still being thumbnailed. The rest are probably going to be comics or emotive single pieces based on the fanfics I really like right now. :)

[doggerell]

I am now one of the dozen of people who actually watched the Old Wounds music video

I was gonna put this all in tags but Im getting carried away. puppy is interesting in genai imaging. if you didnt know this already. hi I like genai images/art sometimes and this is going to come at it from an interest approach. dont unfollow me dont argue with meeee just stop reading now if u hate genai

it didnt change me its just. literally standard. not the worst ai music video Ive ever seen not the best. I went and watched coheeds right after to compare and coheeds had me in TEARRRRSSS laughing, the fuckin spin pan around the rigid 3d models? to zoooom into their eyes to see the genai jitter style with horribly ugly effects cutting over them??? truly next level!

anyway. old wounds was literally fine. I thought the beginning was kind of directionless but l liked the imagry more towards the end and Ive seen genai music videos that are kind of a... pushing style of movement? I kinda liked the rotation better. I did find the galaxies at the end charming. and I liked the color scheme

and. I legit went and watched a good handful of genai music videos after it to put it in context yaknow? and obviously technology has changed in the past 10 months but l dont love the smoothed out slower moving more hyperrealistic look a lot of the newer ones have. old wounds is clearly not trying to be anything but abstract genai. its not hiding its ai-ness at all and as such is not getting caught in the worst of the uncanny valley. I was charmed to see some genai styles I recognize and like in there tbh! the bloody hand called to mind xis.lanyx's viral bloody hand closeups and the phantom painter and other of the more convincting and interesting 'dark art' style genai creators. but this is something only I care abt as someone whose developed an interest in genai and has a vague awareness of some of the better (or at least the ones I prefer) creators.

which brings me to the point of like. is it better to lean into the ai or not? but like thinking abt it like clearly I enjoy both already. artists like reachartwork’s stuff is imperceptible as genai because she is that skilled at the medium and puts that much care into crafting the images she wants. and inktheartists ganbreeder stuff leans into the ai jank hardCORE. and I love both! it just comes down to intentionality and thought always I guess. is Old Wounds intentionally being janky? whose to say. looking at the video creators page theyre clearly leaning into the horror of ai at least. theyve continued with this same jitter style— besides the point Im actually happy to see Anthony still in their likes not too terribly long ago (and Travis). I mean I knew this, Anthony reposts a great photomanipulation artist on his story all the time and its such a similar vein… but I like to see a touch of standing their ground yaknow? 🥺— theyve done at least one piece of the more smoothed out slow style. idk, its just not for me. the uncanniness increases too much. I know that could be utilized for great horror but I havent seen it served as anything but straight up “look how cool ai is!” yet, so

anyway heres some fun genai music videos on the two ends of the spectrum

FROST CHILDREN SHOUTOUT!!! full lean into the jank. rotoscoped style— this is the kind of genai jitter style I was seeing before the Old Wounds announcement and why I was like ‘why is this a big deal?’ I just think its fun. Frost Children leaned into this well and it feels also like genai is just a tool in this, its an overlay, not the sole focus. just absolutely delightful.

this one is baffling to me. lyrics, music, voice, video. all genai. wow. I dont love genai lyrics typically but clearly the artist was going for something here, a kind of thought experiment with making all the components of it genai. I think its obvious through other genai stuff I looked through though that this takes a lot of patience and creativity, and creator has some other interesting filming and editing pieces on his channel. short shots means the uncanny jank doesnt get to bleed through more than the edges, but this is really interesting utilization, emulates realism (or at least with more standard video editing methods) very well

anyway conclusion? Old Wounds is kinda boring and I cant believe anyone lost their shit over it. esp in regards of people acting so viciously horrified over it and on coheeds the negative comments are like. aw this is kinds lazy. but also I cant really be a dying defender of it on the basis of. its kinda boring.

okay Im gonna go watch music videos I might come back a changed woman

[thepilotanon]

Lesson Time!

So, for the babes who actually take the time to read posts and my responses, here's a little interesting lesson about comics and it's branched franchise, because I keep getting messages about why I'm "picky" about certain requests/opinions about some stuff.

(*I have a four year degree and a legit career in comics and writing that also transitions to filming/industry content, as well as minors in writing, history of comics and writing material in various forms. To put it simply, I've gone through the deepest pits of Hell to write 24 page papers per topic, and have met and worked with various people who have been in the Big Name Places. Not going to go into big words and detailed links, but it should get the point across).

There are various versions of characters in big name comic companies, such as DC and Marvel. There is no one version, minus the original made by the original creators, that is considered true canon. Even that is debatable from the original creators, and how they feel about their original creations. This is done for (mostly) to gain a wider audience to bring in more income and popularity; it's the most common and normalized behavior with big name companies and content creators to insure that they can keep banking, as well as keep jobs open for up-and-coming artists and keeping the craft alive.

While it is known that fandoms come in all forms and shapes of characters or plots, it does not give anyone the right to dictate or gate-keep certain points of something that is not theirs, nor in their control of canon. Majority of the time, creators "give up" the rights of their original ideas and concepts in favor of the next generation or other group of people who like it, but don't like it enough to consume the products, when they make it big.

(Note: Usually, content creators will be willing to give up the "rights" to their characters, mostly in favor to carry on the story and give new artists/story-tellers a chance to keep content alive and going. Some others, depending on the publishing rights and their contracts, will be able to keep their content in their names and could allow others to carry on - with limitations - if they're still alive and keep it solid. Example will come with Stephen Hillenburg, creator of Spongebob, who wanted his creation to remain just that one plot and no spin-offs/prequels, and, since his death, Nickelodeon is now aiming to make numerous spin-offs. Naoko Takeuchi, creator of Sailor Moon, has sole ownership of her content and is able to monitor what is being made of her creation, such as the early 2000s live-action TV show and musicals, and raised hell over the anime adaptation of the Three Lights).

That's why there is various versions of Batman, who was created in the late 1930s; where there's the original bachelor and cape crusader, the retired-but-rehired old man Batman, the various sidekicks who inherit the cape and carry on the legacy and "rebirth" of Batman. Where he gets together with different women and "settles" in various plots, never stating the change or how it really happened (unless you purchase the specific series).

That's why there is, like, ten versions of the X-Men plot with the Dark Pheonix, and what comes after. There's various couples that became "canon" in the specific series, and a very different "canon" couple in the next. Where Wolverine married Storm, or Storm married T'Challa/Black Panther, or Wolverine got with Jean Grey. Rogue's difference in obtaining her powers/abilities in the comics versus the films differentiate in favor to paint her character in a different light, where the "new" audience would understand her better and like her quicker.

The main point of doing this "sharing" of content is to make more bank, but to also allow creativity and acceptance to various audiences. The original concept of comics and other content as a whole was to create an accepting environment, where the creator can put themselves into stories (example would be Krazy Kat by George Herriman, where it's noted how the leading character is influenced by the creator's ethnic, sexual, and gendered identity; or George Lucas' creating Luke Skywalker in his image growing up and wanting to explore the world). Many fans can take how they will on the content given, warp it to make them feel emotionally connected to both the story and story-teller, and be able to share and help add on for the future, whether it's being hired by the same company or organization, or contribute to the fandoms.

It's not fair for fans and fandoms to mock or criticize other fans for which version they like or prefer over the other. It's not fair for fans to say "this is how so-and-so character is suppose to be" or "your opinion on this-or-that character/plot is boring/inexcusable/not canon and wrong". That's not what 99% of comics, books, movies, TV shows want.

You can enjoy the content you like or make to contribute to the fandom, and you don't have to be a fucking prick about it. Learn how to share and stay in your lane, because everyone is allowed to enjoy what they like and share their love and thoughts openly with others - you don't have to ruin it for everyone else.