#this isnt like 'i only care about diversity in media and not plot'

[anotherpapercut]

theres this guy who works with me and does a monthly program where he shows a movie for free at a local indie theater. it's really cool and fun but he literally is only picking like extremely, shall we say, un-diverse movies and it's getting kind of irritating. one of the movies had 1 gay character who had the least lines of any of the main characters and 1 had implied gay characters (dead poets society) and 0 have had a single person of color in any of the supporting cast let alone the main cast

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. once the trial plot line is finally wrapped up (at best maybe itll end in december) we still have to deal with apollo, and leto, and thetis, and eros and psyche, AND kronos, oh and you know, the actual hymn to demeter and even just hxp getting together, which is both rushed and dragged out. like how has it almost been four years and still so little has happened and we still have way too many plots to deal with?

2. i see one excuse for LO is "well its free content! dont critique it!" like girl, we know she's making a lot of money just off fast pass alone, not counting books, merch, etc, also she's being paid by the company too as well as ad revenue, so its not really free, is it?

3. LO Persephone is Veruca Salt from Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

4. lets be very frank here. if rachel was a woman of color pulling the shit she does in comic and on social media, shed be so hated as a regressive person with conservative ideas who is selling a horrible story and messages to her young fans, but because she's a white lady they hold her up as the goddamn messiah. theres so many better BIPOC creators who know what to do with this mythology and make it fresh and interesting and yet shes held up as the authority on it and coddled? sounds about white.

5. i dont get where lo fans claims antis are "apollo apologetics" bc literally none of us like him, we like actual mythology apollo and hate rachel took an interesting and diverse god and made him That Way to push her badly written romance along. No one is excusing him and idk where they're claiming thats from?

From OP: Exactly! I have no clue they got that from. Plus, every “Apollo Apologetic” I’ve seen so far likes LO and/or is active in the fandom.

6. that other anon hit the nail on the head. persephone isnt a character dictating the story like she should be, she's just being pulled along by everyone else or just rachel forcing it, all so persephone cant be held accountable for any action, good or bad, it just happens to her. this wouldnt be a problem if it werent for the fact it claims it's about "empowering" persephone and giving her agency to make her own choices, yet she doesnt even have that in this story, even less than the myths, IMHO.

7. does rachel know having hades be a threatening dick towards his pseudo son thanatos actually makes him less qualified to be a father? you cant tell us his biggest dream is to have a family yet when given the chance to care for a child he mentally and emotionally abuses and threatens them with physical violence over any little temper tantrum hades has. how is demeter seen as the abusive parent when she clearly doted and spoiled persephone, but hades is held up as the one "deserving" of a family?

8. hades' whole 'you should be grateful that i raised you FOR FREE and mentored you' is literally verbatim something my physically and emotionally abusive father said to me. that, PLUS him flinching away from hades/shivering, PLUS hades' constant anger at thanatos. just really rubs me the wrong way.

9. im also confused? bc persephone clearly isnt comfortable with how violent and angry hades is, yet she never pushes back on this, and even if she tries he does nothing but a momentary "apology" at best but goes right back to it, and seems to have only upped it recently much to her discomfort. it's (hopefully unintentionally) like how we saw rhea and kronos, where she only dealt with his anger with her body. idk why but rachel is making a strong case their eventual marriage won't be a happy one.

-----FP Spoilers/Mention-----

10. fp spoilers

dude 😭 i dont have words. badly written characters be like: barely 1 minute in we have perse all “*is forced to share her trauma due to fear*” meanwhile hades: “*has a temper tantrum* *2 seconds later* you should not be consoling me” trash can fire comic.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

anti LO anon opinions

(1) Whats up with LO giving some characters random american names? In few fastpass episodes was characters that have bame anna, larry and derek and in previous episodes there was characters with american names. Isnt that supposed to be greek mythological beings that should have greek names?

(2) Maybe it’s my aroace ass but why do I have a feeling the relationship of HxP in LO goes too fast? I feel uncomfortable seeing them so close because nothing really has happened to bind them that much so early.

(3) I’m going to rant for a second here.  I think the Kronos plot in LO is interesting but at the same time it’s also just so? Random? Like isn’t this supposed to be about Hades and Persephone? It have been over 150 episodes and they’ve only just now decided to do any basic romantic interactions, but there’s so many side plots that it just makes them seem so out of place?

It’s not great editing to jump from cutesy shipper moments to suddenly a new war is starting in the span of a few panels. The tonal shifts have to be built up, maybe split over a few episodes, but LO doesn’t put in the effort. It wants the stakes and writing of a deep epic but doesn’t put in the work to do so, so it ends up looking like shallow cliffhanger writing than actually planned.

Like you still have to deal with her murdering people (even if it was an accident), you now have to deal with Leto apparently being the real evil mastermind, redeeming (?) Apollo (🤢), Thetis trying to ruin Zeus’ marriage, Persephone being raped, her scholarship, her school work (?), Eros and psyche, semele and Dionysus, Daphne and Thanatos (gag), Minthe!, and now a whole new war all on top of the ACTUAL myth its popularity and readership is based off of.

For all we know Smythe does genuinely want to tell these other myths (the majority which have nothing to do with HxP to begin with) but just isn’t patient enough to just save them for a spin off series, so she shoves them all into this despite saying back in 2018 she was not going to do. Problem too is that doing that makes HxP, the actual selling point, completely minor in the grand scheme of it all. Who cares about Persephone cuddling her boss when they’re accidentally causing another war under their own noses? How are they good people at that point?

If Demeter or Zeus accidentally awoke a villain they’d be thrown in tartarus too, but we know Persephone will get off Scott-free for this and become queen with no push back. How is that fair? I will feel sympathy for her bad childhood and really bad two weeks on Olympus (good lord it’s only been like a month in comic and all of this is happening, what the hell) but why should we root for a character who is putting millions are risk and who we know won’t be punished or learn anything from it? From anyone not blinded by the rose-tinted glasses, Persephone and hades are villains as well, but because we get their POV we’re supposed to ignore that? No thanks.

Why isn’t the editing team cutting the fat, so to speak? You can’t write and market it off a singular myth and proceed to make it a b-plot because you got bored of it and don’t know how to get from point A to point B. There are a ton of super successful Webtoons that wrapped everything up strongly in less than 100 episodes, some with even less, but LO seems determined to be over 200+ at this rate with the actual plot/hook (HxP) being MAYBE 1/6th of the actual product, with everything else being unrelated side plots smythe found more interesting. Though I guess they do kinda matter in this case, it’s literally Persephone’s fault AGAIN she’s putting countless lives in danger, yet it still won’t be her fault somehow? It’s all just very stupid.

(4) What i find annoying about the LO marketing is they keep insisting it's this "global phenomenon" but that is only correct if you only go off the English speaking server. It was not received well in Korea, it doesn't even rank in the Latin American server, and only does ok in France, and it's not even on other Asian servers. I understand media tends to be very America-focused, but that seems to be twisting the truth. If they were honest True Beauty would be marketed as the "global hit", not LO.

(5) Whats up with LO giving some characters random american names? In few fastpass episodes was characters that have bame anna, larry and derek and in previous episodes there was characters with american names. Isnt that supposed to be greek mythological beings that should have greek names?

(6) what really makes me mad about LO is just that it has so much potential that isn't met. With a competent writer it could be a nuanced look into complex characters who aren't easily cut into black and white, and art wise, especially with the long strolling panels, it shows with a competent eye they can absolutely make something constantly visually strong, yet both genuinely good moments in either writing ad art are few & fair in between in over 150+ episodes. I'm sad over what could have been.

(7) I find it so weird that ppl are praising Rachel for giving Persephone stretch marks but the whole comic barely has diversity. There's only been a handful of plus sized women and I haven't seen any plus sized men so far (I could be wrong. Also, only one goddess is plus sized. Everyone else is skinny.). Nobody has kinky hair and a lot of the guys are extremely tall compared to the women.

[low-budget-korra]

Some of you guys are so used to fanfiction that you cant deal with things that arent one

But yes fuck the story, fuck world building, fuck the characters choices... As long as things get the Disney Happy Ending as i wanted i dont care how many storytelling flaws and plot holes the game/movie/tv show/book may have.

Or i dont know, if you cant deal with heavy themes and violent media, just dont consume them . You can always stick with the steryotypical movie where the lgbt only has one part and arc: get out of the closet. And where the poc people one part and arc is being the villain or suffer from racism.

We need to fight for the right to be present in the most diverse stories and worlds, with the most diverse characters. And this means that we cant have only happy endings, we can have good sad endings too which means that even when isnt what we wanted it makes sense in the story, world where the story takes place and the characters arc.

Characters can be happy, they can love, live , be heroes but they also can be villains, can suffer, can died. It only sucks when they are there just to be the one who suffer or die, when they put an lgbt or poc to die just for the sake of shock value.

It is the same shit i saw when Atomic Blonde came out, when Delphine died. It is the same shit i saw about Korra's arc in The Legend Of Korra ...

Some of you are still traumatized by Lexa's death and it shows.

Oh and i am an poor poc lesbian woman from Brazil (where racism is also sadly real af and homophobia too) for those who my think im some cishet white dude for thinking like that

Not everyone in lgbt community or any poc community is gonna think the same as you and this doesnt always mean there's something/someone's wrong or that the person's opinion shouldnt be valid.

[finalsorrow]

I agree about the stories, I'm also not always big on some characterization and some of those choices are pretty dated, but I'll take that any day over any grimdark bullshit. A plot that just relies on misery is boring and frankly childish to me. It's so shallow to just... declare/observe that there is suffering in the world, it's not insightful or deep and it's gratuitous. Also the games have infinitely better designs... Isaac's night horde in the show had essentially a walking carrot in it lol

yeah, for real. the game monsters were so much easier to care about cus they didnt just look like someone trying desperately to come up with new ideas.

there was a mix of traditional, somewhat-goofy monsters and eldrich monsters alike. also definitely some of the ideas are dated, but ykno... just 80′s-2005 things. at least alucard wasn’t being played off as a fanservice character and had more depth to him. and iga wasn’t great with female characters, but at least it wasnt the tryhard “we’ll make these female characters all witty and smarter than men because then the radfems will have to love us”

thats a gripe i have with modern writing in general, though. making a good female character is more than having them be smart and the best at everything, too.

the thing about it, is that people are actually able to extract great fanon for the games even with all the wholes in the plot or lack of context. with netflixvania though, you’re forced into this one narrative that will never change because the characters have already been doomed with a lack of 3d-ness, or development.

though i appreciate isaacs netflixvania design more than the game one but that’s just because... what the hell was that...

but you can also tell that they only made isaac black with the new look so they could pull for more diversity points, i guess. they really forced that ‘enslaved by a guy he really respected’ thing...

also, the show relies ONLY on writing and animation, and the writing isnt good and the animation,,, is good, it’s certainly not lazy, but it definitely is just contributing to the grimdark shit. very little changes in colours or lighting, and ykno... them hiring porn artists for those awful sex scenes. bad taste, in that derpartment.

the games might not have had the best story, but there’s GREAT music and it’s also just a fun thing to interact with as a game. challenging, but beloved. also, something you just have to love how cheesy the plot/characters/designs can be. not enough modern writers are secure enough to allow goofy things into their media.

[starryrogue]

Hey. Below the cut is a LONG (2 page google docs) rant on being a gay sff book fan and the intersection of being a gay man in m/m spaces and book stuff. Just me ranting into the internet void. probs gonna delete this later so dont reblog/ or @ me or w/e

Before I get started, a disclaimer. This is a series of observations and rants based on my lived experience as a gay man in book and fan spaces. This isn't a formal critique or callout or call for action. Just an expression of confusion, frustration and desire. This isn’t me trying to dictate who can read and write and express m/m fiction. This isn't me saying “How dare women find enjoyment in things” since shaming women for “liking thing” is a long and complicated history. None of this has been checked for numbers and stats. There are a lot of generalizations below. There are probably more lgbt people engaging than I perceive. THERE IS A LOT OF GENERALIZING. This isnt an argument or formal essay.   I emphasize, this is me, a gay man, ranting and reflecting on my experience. Now that we have that out of the way

On a fundamental level, M/M book spaces are predominantly women filled. Starting at the top of the process, authors (check goodreads), Publishing (my industry and the results of a recent survey showing employment stats in publishing), Readers and engagement (harder to say stat wise but checking goodreads comments), and Fandom (more just a lived experience) are mostly women . So as a Gay Dude its confusing. On one hand, I feel kind of if I'm entering a space not meant for me, a man entering a women’s. But on the other hand my identity is the subject of so much work, both properly published and fanwork. Is this a space I can enter? 

Why is this the case? Why are women writing about this? Why is it finding an audience with other women? Is it a result of all of the above aspects just being woman heavy and it's a statistical result that most genre fiction being written/read by women? Fandom, shipping and M/M zines and fic are historically not led by men? Why? At the inception of fan culture, were there gay men engaging in shipping and using that as an avenue to explore male sexuality? Why have I only heard of fandom moms and not dads? 

Please read none of these as acuistory. I am generally inquisitive and would like an answer with historical context and data. Again, it's hard finding a balance between being a man commenting/genrailizing on a genre/hobby predominaltey for women and also being gay and wanting to engage in M/M content since again, its part of my identity being reprisented and commented on. Obviously not all the people i'm generalizing are straight, or cis. There are probably a lot of wlw, trans and nb people in these circles but I can't imagine it's the majority.I’m worried this might come off as misogynistic?

But then comes the real life scenario where I go to Scifi/fantasy book events that feature mlm leads and relationships and at a glance) I’m like one of 3 guys in a room of straight women? (again, generalizing) and I think, “why are y’all here? I'm here b/c I’m gay, and this book is gay? What are you getting out of this relationship? Where are my Gay SFF bros?”

A lot of YA SFF M/M content seems to be coming from author moving out of fan spaces, using fic as a way to practice their craft. Is this an equivalent of stright bro enjoying lesbian porn? Maybe not in YA SFF but BL/Yaoi has alway been pretty for women, by women? What about all the Mass Market romance? Straight up romance and smut between guys? Is it enjoyable b/c its two dudes making out and the author and audience are attracted to men so why not make it two men? Is it the “cultural taboo” around gayness that makes it hot? In all fairness I’ve only read 2 or 3 Mass Market/Ebook gay romances and they were Okay (like 7/10ish?) but that's not a good sample size. Again, why are women/ straight or otherwise getting to depict and dominate a market about gay men? I really suspect that women who are into men drastically out number MLM and also women being into men has been less stigmatized (Generally) than men depicting gay romance and sex. 

I wrote a post about being a gay man and liking love between men for a masculine. A kind or romance and intimacy seeped in masculinity kind of  thing and a lot the likes I got (or could identify) were women. As a gay dude i want to intereact with other MLM about M/M media since like this is suppsoed to be depiciting our kind of sex and romance but it hard to find any? (I'm not looking craaaazy hard but it's frustrating that its not a default) but where are the mlm talking about gay relationships on tumblr and goodreads?

I’m not trying to dictate who can write and read and publish this stuff. It's just isolating. There are a couple things I could go on about like depictions of mlm in shipping culture or like why all the top Tapas comics are BL but I think that's a separate issue. 

And now for some content rant 

As far as canon m/m content in books, up until recently it came in 3 flavors. Literary Tragedy, YA coming out Angst, and Mass Market Romance. Comics are a little better but not by much. Growing up I had like Magnus/Alec in that C.Claire series and Wallace Wells from Scott Pilgram and I think that was it. There has been a recent move in Sci-fi Fantasy (SFF) to be more diverse but generally its a lot of YA with a little less coming out angst. All my faves are still genreally written by women but I think the queer women and NB authors do it best IMO. 

I love SFF, but also I’m an adult so I am aging out of YA. Also YA coming out stuff especially contemporary is an easy way to get me anxious AF. Long story short, being a gay teen is tough and Id preferer not to relive coming out. I wish I had things like Carry On and How to repair a Mechanical Heart as a teen, but alas, I did not. Not that these books have no value, just there is still a gap in the market fot gay adult genre fiction(also why are straight women depicting coming out stories? Altruism?)

Give me that adult genre fiction with a gay romance b-plot please. (shout out to TOR for being market leaders but i need to do a deeper dive into indie presses). Shout out to things like Witchmark and Amberlough and The Last Sun. All great SFF stories in other worlds and full of magic and plot but also, dudes kissing. The one thing is gay authors have a tendecy to make thier books have darker topics like abuse, sexual assult/rape, homophonia, hard core drugs and violence, which i’m not going to deny. Let authors navigate the waers of gay culture in thier art. But I just want to read things like Juno Steel, queer AF but none of the homophbia and trauma attached. These asks are purely self interested, but I know there is a market for it.

(Also, there is this weird trend of Homophobia-Lite ™ where we arnt going to have the characters be bullied or outed or beaten/disowned but they need to “grow up” and get wives and families. Which on one hand is not great but on the other hand I like the way it reflects the lived experience of being ashmaed of your secuality but without the harsher traumas of the world. Its like me being gay in NYC in an artsy inudsrty. No one realy cares I’m gay and out but there are still little things that give me pause and some shame b/c interlized homophbia is a think. I think the SFF book makes it the best of both worlds of exploring homophobia without the darker themes. Ok end sidebar)

I have more thoughts on podcast content and fan spaces/shipping culture but this rant is already long. So I’ll leave it here. 

Probs gonna delete this after a day or 2. This was mostly an exercise for screaming into the void at some gay nerd frustrations. This rant is not without flaws or critique. But again, just a rant. A gay dudes nerdy rant about fantasy books. 

[opalsiren]

W.I.T.C.H. Reboot! W.I.T.C.H. Reboot! W.I.T.C.H. Reboot!

hi love! so, with the plethora of reboots kicking around mainstream media these days, its no surprise that the question of a w.i.t.c.h reboot has been broached by its fans. i have so, so, so many thoughts and this, but ill divide them into three categories for the purpose of brevity: firstly, general thoughts on what i would like to see if a w.i.t.c.h reboot is on the cards; secondly, what i would like to see in a live-action w.i.t.c.h reboot; and finally, what a decent animated reboot of w.i.t.c.h might entail. this is not an exhaustive list so please feel free to add onto this if youve any more thoughts! without further ado because jesus, we might be here a while….

general thoughts:

a w.i.t.c.h live action reboot should largely use the comics are source material. while the cartoons are beloved by many including myself, i reckon the good parts of each should be combined to be thematically consistent, fix plot holes etc. but the comics should be the bible here

the target demographic of younger women and girls would need to be established early on by the producers (personally i would love to see a slightly more mature, w.i.t.c.h college AU where the target demographic could be teens/young adult women and girls, but more on that later). this isnt to say that young men and boys would be absolutely excluded as an audience, but misogyny is alive and well in 2019, and our voices as women need to be uplifted. this is exemplified by the fact that caleb was given far, far, far too much screentime in the cartoon so that the show could reach a young, male audience, and his characters was mangled by chauvinistic tendencies. thank u, next.

i have my own preferences wrt to ships, but i think we can all agree that introducing male characters as mere plot devices for drama/conflict only to put them ‘on a bus’ when theyre no longer useful is just plain bad writing. this is a critique levelled both at the cartoon and comics, but largely the comics (see: Eric)(rip in peace).

i also believe that sticking to the conventions of a particular genre, or hybrid genre, would be preferable if a w.i.t.c.h reboot were to take place. some shows get it right, but I’ve seen a ton of shows go off the rails when they try to be a fantasy/comedy/crime/drama/horror/sci-fi/occult/soap-opera extravaganza all in one. i reckon a YA fantasy drama with comedic moments, something with a similar vibe to Shadowhunters or The Shannara Chronicles, could work really well. if we’re talking animated reboot, something with a similar tonal atmosphere to The Dragon Prince or Into the Spiderverse, would also be great

this shouldnt even need to be said but please, for the love of god, no musical episodes (heres looking at you, Riverdale).

i think i speak on everyones behalf when i say that, irrespective of the age demographic of the show, LGBT rep in w.i.t.c.h would be amazing. irma/cornelia have always been a practically canon fan favourite, but cassidy and nerissa’s relationship is definitely more than strictly platonic, so that could be developed upon too. trans/nonbinary!will is also a popular headcanon that could work. once there are lgbt heroes, and not just lgbt villains, i think we’ll all be happy.

similarly, seeing some neurodivergency in the characters could also be great: elyon dealing with pts after the fallout with phobos; irma struggling with adhd in school or college; hay lin and taranee also exhibit some traits of anxiety in canon. autistic!will would also work, and someone else in the squad is bound to be affected by depression given its pervasive nature these days.

much and all as i adore the guardian outfits, i think there would need to be a few changes made. the midriff-and-leg-baring get-ups, though very cute, become very jarring when you realise the characters are meant to range in age from 12 to 14. i dont have any specific thoughts on how improvements could be made, but lengthening hemlines could be a start. if anyone has any more thoughts, i’d love to hear them!

of course, there needs to be women in the writers room, lgbt people in the writers room, poc in the writers room, people with neurodivergencies in the writers room, etc. we all know what happens when writers rooms lack diversity, and it sure as hell aint pretty.

body diversity was something that was tentatively approached in the comics (irma is curvier than the others, at least in her mundane form), but eschewed almost entirely in the cartoon, with all the girls maintaining similar heights and waifish proportions. it would be worthwhile, not to mention realistic, for the girls to go through some body-image hang ups. maybe will is insecure about her ‘underdeveloped’ body, or maybe taranee longs to have the same curvaceous figures as other dancers her age. i think if they were to go for a message of body positivity, irma, loud and brash with no fucks to give, should love every inch of her fat body and encourage the girls to adopt her 'devil-may-care’ attitude. the patriarchy be damned.

one flaw with the comics AND the cartoons are that they dont really explore the worldbuilding a lot. we do spend some time on meridian in the comics and the cartoon, but largely from the perspective of either elyon, or caleb and the rebels. i wonder what a day on meridian would look like for the average meridianite peasant? what do meridianites do for fun? what language(s) do they speak? what are their religious/spiritual belief(s)? what are the styles of dress dictated by? meridian is based on medieval societies, and a caste system is suggested, but i would have loved to see the social hierarchies expanded on a little more. does the matriarchal nature of meridian rule value women and their labour? what about LGBT people on meridian? people with disabilities and neurodivergencies? is there any discrimination against the different species on meridian? in fact, i dont know if it was ever explicitly outlined to us the different species of peoples on meridian, in the cartoon or the comics. honestly id be happy to see a filler, AtLA Tales of Ba Sing Se-esque episode on meridian to cover all of these bases

one thing i loved from the comics that didnt translate as well in the cartoon were the girls’ passions and interests. will is obsessed with frogs, she rides her bike to her job at pet store, she swims, stresses over math homework. irma loves music and talking to her pet turtle, leafy; i could totally see her doing a stint at the college radio station or working part time at a record store. cornelia loves ice skating and has received tons of awards and accolades for her achievements on the ice. taranee is an avid photographer and dancer, but i could totally see her spending her spare time at rallies and protests too. hay lin is a proficient artist, making her own clothes and poring over paintings between shifts at the silver dragon. all of these things and more are what make these characters so well-rounded, relatable, likeable. their hobbies need to be weaved into the fabric of the show (not just brought up once for a silly plot device in cornelia’s case, or never brought up at all in taranee’s, as seen in the cartoon) in order for it to work

live action reboot thoughts:

this should go out without saying, but a live action w.i.t.c.h reboot should cast actors of colour to play characters of colour. hay lin, and by extension her family, need to be played by Chinese actors, while taranee needs to be played by a black actor, preferably one of east asian descent, etc. if they add a little more diversity to the cast i would be totally pleased. latina!irma is a popular headcanon that i ascribe to, and will has always been kinda ambiguously brown, so adding less ambiguous representation for poc to the cast would really be excellent

of course, age-appropriate casting is a must. more specifically, there should not be any 25-30 year olds playing characters in their mid-late teens, unless ofc they could actually pass for the age they are trying to play. shows like The OA and The End of the Fucking World really get this right (most other teen/YA dramas, not so much. less of the chiseled abs and rock hard pecs on teens, please)

this one might be tricky to get right, particularly with budget constraints, but i think a really good CGI/visual effects team is necessary for a w.i.t.c.h reboot to work. unless an adequate amount of the budget is spent on making sure the magic looks realistic, almost plausible, it will make everything else look cheap by comparison

also, this is more of a personal preference, but i’d love to see someone with a really beautiful visual aesthetic and scope of cinematography. i’m talking Sense8-esque levels of cinematographic beauty

i’m really rambling now but, similarly, it’d be so cool to see someone who could use lighting/colour theory in very particular ways. in Marvel’s Netflix Originals, each character has their own theme colour; in Jessica Jones, for example, all of the scenes are very blue and almost leeched of warmth, while in Luke Cage there seems to be a warm yellow filter over everything. how cool would it be if all Taranee-centric scenes had a slight gold hue? or if all of cornelia’s scenes were lit with green? maybe all of the colours could combine in the a subtle yet effective way when all of the guardians are together to show their unity and combined strength.

thoughts on an animated reboot:

i know very little about animation so these thoughts will be brief, but an art and animation style something like that of Into the Spiderverse would be really gorgeous. it is fluid, dynamic, beautiful to look at and, most importantly, reflects the comic format in a moving image perfectly. alternatively, the animation studio behind The Legend of Korra could also be wonderful. the visual effects used for magic would look absolutely incredible

one thing i have to praise the Jetix cartoon for is their choice of voice actors, which were, in many cases, spot on. while cornelia’s VA was annoying and shrill, the actors playing characters of colour were themselves people of colour. if an animated reboot was on the cards, i think it could be a great opportunity to once again include some diversity to the cast, namely hiring actors of colour to play characters of colour

please let no one who worked on voltron near a w.i.t.c.h animated reboot with a ten foot pole. no i will not elaborate

tl;dr at the risk of sounding like an entitled millennial, a w.i.t.c.h reboot should be less about creating something entirely new for a brand new audience, and more about building on what the longtime fans of w.i.t.c.h already love and bringing it forward for the older generation. all on all, we grew up with w.i.t.c.h, so it’s time for us to have our reboot. thanks for coming to my TED talk!

[lexidanger]

rolls in whispers but lexi do u have any wd2 headcannons oR remarks ir thoughts oR JUST SCREAMING SVREAM W/ME ABOUT THIS GAME ITS SO GOOD WHY ISNT ANYONE SCREAMING ABOUT THIS GAME

Y ES YES I WILL SCREAM WITH YOU AND USE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO GUSH ABOUT IT BECAUSE I ADORE IT SO MUCH

I’m just????? so proud of it???? because it did such a great job with so many different issues and presented them in a way that was just perfect and 100000% relatable to issues going on right now, from racial profiling, the corruption of law enforcement and escalation of tactics used to “pacify” protestors, literally all the issues that are brought up in game are directly connected to what we’re going through today.

not to mention everyone’s been wanting games with diverse casts and the diversity of not only the main cast but the rest of the supporting characters is just so effortless and natural?? (SEE DEVELOPERS IT’S NOT HARD AT ALL EVEN UBI GOT IT RIGHT) I mean look at this cast, we’ve got

Marcus, a black protag who is just an all around amazing person and is always looking to do positive things in peoples lives no matter the circumstance

Horatio, another black lead who braves the white washed world of being employed at one of these big name corporations so that he can help Dedsec in the long run

Sitara, an indian graphic designer who is the face and voice of Dedsec as a whole and is very much the glue that holds all these nerds together

Josh who is (very plainly stated) autistic and is always treated with the upmost respect and care by his friends and others, who’s never shown to be less capable than his friends (in fact he saves their asses more times than anyone else)

Wrench who most likely has bpd or a similar condition (not confirmed but it’s been very heavily hinted at) who’s past is presumably rocky and deals with it by taking down these awful institutions one explosive at a time

and Ray, a protag from the last game who’s basically passing the torch to this new generation of amazingly bright young hackers and wants more than anything to help them fight for what they all believe in

this isn’t including the countless LGBT+ characters and settings populating the game and the black openly trans councilwoman who’s surgeries were leaked to the public but the people who did so are ALWAYS shown to be an awful criminal organization and nothing more

besides all of that it’s just a fun game? the #Aesthetic is on point, and not only is the writing/dialogue hilarious, whoever wrote it has some serious nerd cred and i adore them for putting actually legit nerd speak in a piece of media without it coming off as forced or fabricated

god I just live for these characters and this family they create and how they’re all so devoted to doing the right thing no matter what. between the plot and characters i dont understand how it got swept under the rug when this is finally a story about US

aND IM SO PUMPED FOR THE CYBERPUNK UPRISING LETS BLOW SOME SHIT UP

[sportsandfitnessinfo]

New Post has been published on http://fitnessandhealthpros.com/beauty/climate-change-is-starving-millions-right-now-why-isnt-this-a-thing-yet/

Climate Change Is Starving Millions Right Now. Why Isn’t This A Thing Yet?

A version of this article previously appeared on My Kind Closet.

This article is part of a collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ethical Writers Coalition.

Climate change is no longer an abstract concept that can be relegated to the bottom of our “things we should address eventually”  lists … We are presently in the throes of feeling the very real and serious consequences of a rising climate;  consequences which will become more dire by the year if we continue to live as we’re living without massive intervention on a global scale.

Those of us living in wealthier, more developed countries surely understand that climate change is a complex problem with a range of diverse implications; however, it’s easy to forget how real and serious these implications actually are when one can simply open a faucet to pour a glass of clean water on-demand, drive to the market for access to an unlimited and seemingly endless array of food choices, or have a more than reasonable expectation that one’s food is safe and free from food or water-borne illnesses.

It’s heartening that climate change is a conversation finally happening in the mainstream – one that has become a hot topic among politicians and media outlets. But, these conversations are typically limited to a few very narrow topics like the rise in sea level, air pollution, and protecting clean water.

In order to truly become more considerate of all the impacts climate change is having, we must be willing to expand our perspectives and think more globally; Our conversations need to extend beyond what we already know and regularly discuss.

Climate Change and Food Security

Did you know that by 2050, the world’s agricultural systems must produce 70% more food* than we have today to meet the demands of a population expected to reach 9.6 billion?

If you audibly gasped after reading that, please know you’re right to be alarmed.

This enormous food gap is daunting in and of itself, but it seems particularly insurmountable to close when compounded with the effects of climate change, as food security and food supplies are among the casualties of global warming.

Individuals most at risk are those in developing countries, most notably women and children, many of whom are already undernourished.  As of 2014, 795 million people are estimated to be undernourished, often as a direct consequence of environmental degradation, drought, and loss of biodiversity (United Nations Development Programme, Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 2: Zero Hunger).

These points are made distressingly clear by the current humanitarian crisis facing over 20 million people in Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan, and Kenya; Drought, famine, and unstable political climates compounded by the presence of terrorist groups has displaced many and has left millions of people hungry.  In just two days alone, it has been reported that 110 people in Somalia, mostly women and children, have died from drought-related starvation and disease. Unicef reports that 1.4 million children in Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan, and Nigeria could die of malnutrition.

The continued trend of a warming climate does not bode well for the health of these regions as higher temperatures will continue to reduce an already strained water supply, shorten growing seasons, and reduce crop yields.

People are considered “food secure” when they have access at all times to sufficient, safe, and nutritious foods.

There are four key dimensions to measure food security:  availability, stability, access, utilization.

Our warming climate and increasingly erratic weather patterns affect food production directly and indirectly across these dimensions.

Direct impacts of climate change would include reduction or unpredictable crop yields due to damages caused by more severe and frequent weather events like cyclones, droughts, and flooding.

In regions that are already drier, for example, a warming climate will reduce the moisture content of soil and has the potential to make agricultural land unsuitable for growing, in addition to increasing the risk of erosion and landslides.

Warmer temperatures may also lead to crop reduction.  The UNDP reports that for each 1 degree of temperature increase, grain yields decline by about 5%. Between 1981 and 2002, maize, wheat, and other major crops have seen significant yield reductions at the global level of 40 megatonnes annually.

Indirect implications of climate change on food security includes restricted access to food due to changes in income or availability, or reduced utilization of food due to an increase in disease.

For example, heavier rainfalls can lead to an increase in water-borne illnesses, like cholera, that would reduce an infected persons’ ability to adequately utilize food due to diarrhea.

But, with the right tools, it is possible to bolster food security by adapting food production to account for the changing climate and prepare for future impacts of climate change; the UNDP works in countries around the world to help facilitate this.

Seed nurseries, drip-irrigation, crop diversification and various other agricultural practices have been introduced to at-risk communities, while climate-resilient crops have replaced climate-sensitive ones.  The UNDP also helps to rehabilitate water harvesting systems.

And because we tend to care more about an issue when we can make some sort of personal or visual connection, I’d like to highlight a region already severely impacted by climate change, which is one of the many projects the UNDP has undertaken to improve food security and access to water.

Greening the Dry Zone of Myanmar

Food insecurity is a growing problem in the Dry Zone of Myanmar, which is a region spanning around 54,000 km and home to around one-third of the country’s population.  Food insecurity, and the chronic poverty that characterizes this region, is closely correlated to the regions droughts and dry spells.  Conversely, during times of heavy rains, communities in this region have become increasingly more susceptible to the perils of flash floods and landslides due to soil erosion.

In areas of the Dry Zone hardest hit by droughts and dry spells, adequate water isn’t always easy to obtain.

I don‘t have time for many dreams in my life. My family is usually struggling for our daily needs… Water is always a big concern. Without rain, I cannot do anything.” Daung Yi, Sin Ka Village, Chauk Township, Magway Region (as quoted in “Greening the Dry Zone: Conserving the Land While Improving Water Access and Food Security in Myanmar“)

Duang Yi is just one of many in her village, and throughout the Dry Zone, who not only pay a significant portion of their income on water, but who endure a significant time-burden traveling to the well nearest to their home.  In Duang Yi’s case, the well is a 15-20 minute walk away.

Individuals who are struggling to meet the basic needs of survival do not have time, or the resources, to improve their lives through education or other income generating activities.

A key project of the UNDP in this area is supporting community-based and community-driven efforts to secure water resources by enhancing water capture and storage to provide continuous freshwater availability to the 280 villages participating in this project. In addition, the benefits of improved water security are maximized by promoting climate-resilient agricultural practices, like the examples listed earlier. Finally, additional farmer-managed projects, like establishing community-based agro forestry plots, are underway to restore and rehabilitate the region’s soil.

Ultimately, these projects benefit the communities through access to water, higher crop yields and access to food through subsistence farming, and economic opportunities through job creation.

Food security issues will continue to be a growing concern in the wake of climate change; what can you do about it today?

With a greater knowledge and understanding of the myriad aspects of a warming climate, we’re in a better position to make appropriate changes in our lives.

And, if there ever was a silver lining in all of this it’s that because we’re largely the cause of climate change, we can actually make changes in our lives to help mitigate the effects.

Reduce over-consumption of calories and reduce consumption of animal-based foods

Take the carbon neutral pledge

Further educate yourself by heading over to the UNDP website for additional information and tools.

Also by Stephanie: 6 Ways to Protect Endangered and Threatened Species

Related: What You Can Do Now to Fight Climate Change In Your City

A Few Smart Initiatives Stand Between Global Warming and Utter Devastation of Our Oceans

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*As measured by calories.

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Photo: Oxfam, Pexels, UNDP

Stephanie founded My Kind Closet hoping to inspire you to ditch the leather, wool, silk etc, in favor of a kinder style. She is also a monthly columnist at Vilda Magazine and a member of the Ethical Writers Coalition. Follow Stephanie on Instagram @my_kind_closet.

Originally at :Peaceful Dumpling Written By : Stephanie Villano