#which a lot of the stuff getting cut nowadays does

[dira333]

How to argue 101 - Tsukishima x Reader

for @liquidcatt for the Milestone Event Week 1

“A classic, really?” Blondie mocks his friend. “You just don��t have any taste.”

The dark-haired guy next to him scoffs. “I don’t have any taste? At least I don’t watch the Jurassic Park movies on repeat.”

“Might be good for you, you know. Better than whatever you’re doing with your free time.”

You scoff, more on instinct than anything else but it does the trick.

You really should stop listening in to the conversation on the tables around you, but it wouldn’t be a guilty pleasure without the slight feeling of guilt.

“What?” Blondie turns around to eye you through square glasses. They suit him surprisingly well.

“Nothing, nothing.” You wave him off. “Didn’t know Jurassic Park was such a sophisticated movie nowadays.” You wait just a heartbeat long to add slyly. “Wasn’t there a lot of stuff wrong with the Dinosaurs?”

“So?” Blondie argues back. And maybe it’s your worst character trait, but why is it so easy to rile people up anyway?

“So?” You parrot him. “Nothing, if you like killing your brain slowly. Everyone has their own vices.”

“Name one thing wrong with the movies.”

“The Dinosaurs,” you correct him, weirdly drawn into the way he holds his head now, trying to look down at you. He’s pale-ish, his white-blond hair reminding you of the moonlight in a way. But that would be too weird, right?

“I’m waiting.”

“Look,” you tell him with your sweetest smile. “I’m not an expert on Jurassic Park mistakes.”

Which is a lie. You love Jurassic Park. You know it’s faults too. But it’s fun making fun of it, isn’t it?

Blondie's eyes narrow at you. “You’re lying.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“You’re both boring,” the dark-haired guy interjects and you jerk your head over to glare at him. 

“No one asked you,” you scoff and watch Blondie swallow his laughter.

“Hey!”

“Kageyama, the peasants are talking,” Blondie cuts him off before turning to you with the laziest smile that has ever made your heart race. Curse him.

“You call me a peasant without knowing my name? Presumptuous.”

“And you pretend you don’t know anything about Jurassic Park while wearing Merch,” he points out, reaches one impossibly long arm over the gap between your tables and drags his finger over the stitching on your arm. Shit.

“Well,” you try to turn back to your laptop but his fingertip curls and snags into the fabric of your hoodie, not quite keeping you in place but not quite letting you go either.

“I’m Tsukishima by the way,” he mentions. “So… Jurassic Park movie failures?”

You roll your eyes. “Don’t get me started on them.”

“Why not? I don’t have anything better to do anyway.”

“Rude,” Kageyama gets up. “I’m going to get more coffee while you two do whatever this is.”

“What are we doing?” You ask Tsukishima and he grins.

“I don’t know. I would call it flirting but I don’t think Kageyama ever heard of that.”

And you can’t argue with that. Well, you can. And you will.

[keets-writing-corner]

does filler exist? sure absolutely

is excessive filler annoying? yeah kinda

but that's not the problem that's happening. They're not cutting FILLER they're cutting CHARACTERIZATION moments. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to say that ONLY FOCUS ON PLOT/CHARACTER/ETC CUZ THAT'S ALL THAT MATTER, that's not my point at ALL. Absolutely write your fluff. The same way that we need humor in a horror movie to take a moment to breathe and then the horror hits that much harder when it returns because we had a moment to relax, fluff serves a similar function to take a break from the plot

but that's not what I think the main problem is. A lot of things that are considered "filler" nowadays are actually really important characterization moments. Moments that makes us see that the characters are human. That they have feelings. That there are things they enjoy and things they fear. That there are situations where they could be silly, or serious. And if these moments are what's getting cut because you're only focusing on plot, then OF COURSE the story feels empty! At this point they aren't even people anymore they're just characters trying to carry a story from point A to point B and that's not enjoyable

Who cares if the characters aren't currently trying to obtain the macguffin, now we know how much they care about each other, or how much their relationship means to each other. Or we just see them having fun and it reminds us not only of our own relationships where we have fun, but also TO HAVE FUN IN OUR RELATIONSHIPS, and then if something happens to those characters that changes that relationship, that's going to hit so much harder going forward, especially if it affects the plot

I hear all the time "People don't remember what you were wearing, or what you said, they remember how you made them feel" and that applies here too. The most important part of any story are the characters, and if we remember the characters having happy good times, then idk it just makes the story so much richer and that's NECESSARY for a good story

everyone's been getting tired of shorter and shorter and more condensed shows, and it's because of this. There's a REASON why all the avatar adaptations keep getting backlash, and it's not just cuz of *gestures vaguely to dumpster fire*. It's because they're cutting out all the fat. They're cutting out all the fun characterization. We don't see the gaang having fun. We don't see them bonding with each other. And it suffers

to borrow from the poster above me, sure you can trim the fat off your beef, but it's not going to taste nearly as good then if you cooked it WITH the fat on

as with everything, there is a balance of course, but please, for any aspiring writers or even just fan fic writers

keep that fluff. it's good for the story

Working on my novel and couldn’t figure out why it felt so empty. I didn’t have any filler. It was all 100% plot. The characters only interacted when necessary. I didn’t prattle on about the scenery or how the birds sounded. I had all my fuller stuff that I loved saved in another file because I “didn’t need it”.

Y’all, I knew this existed in TV shows but it didn’t hit me until this that everything is being whittled down. We are so starving for filler that we snap up anything. I unload all mine on Tumblr or keep it in a massive Google Docs. It SUCKS.

Honestly? Death to plot necessity. Revive filler. Revive unnecessary interactions. Revive just vibing with characters sometimes. I don’t want to just consume the plot and I don’t want to just create the plot either.

[katerinaaqu]

Would you describe Odysseus as morally grey?

That is a very good question. It depends on the version. Unfortunately post-homeric sources do tend to depict him from morally gray till villainous.

Ironically I am not sure if I would describe him as "morally gray" for the Odyssey or even the Iliad. I would mostly describe him as "human". Deeply flawed and someone who makes mistakes. But he does seem to flirt a lot with some morally gray decisions such as the taking of Troy which was a war crime no matter what someone puts to it. Even for the ancient standards.

Many of his actions might as well place him as the perfect example of a morally gray person especially if we judge them from the safety of our home. However put them in ancient context in war or a battle for survival then rules massively differ. Was it a morally gray action to sneak into the enemy to gather information? Don't all modern wars include someone who gathers information? If one thinks about Odysseus did what we do with drones nowadays. Was it a morally gray action to lie to Polyphemus and trick him? He was a huge monster that was eating them. I doubt there was any other way to handle him. Was it a morally gray decision to cut the ropes holding his ship during the Laestrygonians misadventure when he saw all his other ships were trapped in the bay and there was no way for them to get out? Thinking back is not that different on when you decide not to jump into a helpless situation for the rescue when you see that your safety and other people's safety is at steak. Was it a morally gray decision to sell himself to Circe so that his men could live? Like yeah one can call him "whore" but did he really have a choice given how he was facing a powerful immortal witch? Was it a morally gray decision to conceal himself and lie on his identity both to the Phaeakes and in Ithaca? Somehow one must admit that when you have been through so much as Odysseus the action doesn't seem so unreasonable

Two clearly gray decisions he made even for those standards was the taking of Troy by trickery at night (night was for burying the dead and resting) and the murder of the suitors because he still needs to cleanse himself from it but even that seems to be done with the blessings of Gods. It seems that the crimes the suitors committed (trampling the laws of Xenia, eating and drinking without bringing something in return, harassing the hosts, conspiring to murder Telemachus etc) called for this punishment according to the gods in the Odyssey. So even if it was undoubtedly a mass murder and was accompanied by the mass excecution of the conspiring maids it seems like the gods approved those as punishment to crimes. Another in the Iliad seems to be the murder of Dolon, the Trojan spy he and Diomedes caught even if he tried to beg for his life. The action was performed by Diomedes but of course Odysseus didn't seem to oppose it at all. In a way though put it in a war context and you realize why there was a mutual mistrust. They couldn't just let go of a spy and they couldn't feed him forever. In one way in harsh warfare one can imagine certain morally gray decisions are taken by all parties...

In conclusion, given that Odysseus does many shady stuff, it would have been very tempting to answer "yes" to your question. However i think that wouldn't do him justice when it comes to the original homeric poems. Odysseus is a sneaky figure but he is also described as pious and faithful to the gods to the point of Zeus saying there is no better man than him in offering sacrifices to the gods and showing respect. Odysseus knows the different between right and wrong and comments on it many times. That seems to be backed up with some merciful moves he makes for instance he warns one of the suitors who was young and he felt pity to kill him to get out of the palace while he still could, advice which was not heeded by the young man or when he wants to be absolutely sure on the identity of the people he has around him thus not accepting his judgement to be clouded by any biased person no matter how much he cared of them giving that he is also just and careful. Now would I use the term "morally gray"? Only for the fact that he seems capable of performing certain actions under the table or cheating (see funerary matches of Patroclus) but somehow I think that wouldn't do him full justice when it comes to the original homeric poems.

Now post-homeric Odysseus? Absolutely seems to be fitting the bill of morally grayness better. He conspires, he cheats and he looks after himself. At those too we have some versions in which even with those decisions the title doesn't seem to fit but it definitely fits better.

I am sorry for the long reply but I hope that answers your question. It was a very interesting question and thank you for putting it!

[roo-bastmoon]

Thoughts on 3D

So Jungkook's collab with Jack Harlow is out. It is catchy; it will go viral. I have purchased it; I will add it to my new releases playlists--same as I do for all our boys.

But while the dancing was cool and JK's parts are okay (I'm not thrilled that the word "girl" is used literally 20 times, but I get what the western music industry is), I was--I need to be honest here--really taken aback and unhappy with how misogynistic Jack Harlow's rap lyrics were. As far as I'm concerned, he's absolutely unnecessary, and I'll be supporting the alternate version with a lot more enthusiasm.

A deeper look at the lyrics and more of my thoughts are under the cut if you're interested (but by clicking, you're agreeing to keep it respectful in the comments or you'll get banned.)

All my ABG's get cute for me I had one girl (One girl), too boring Two girls (Two girls), that was cool for me Three girls, damn, dude's horny Four girls, okay now you whorin' (Hey, hey, hey) Hey, I'm loose I done put these shrooms to good use

Setting young women up in a line and talking about how sleeping with just one is too boring but sleeping with four is whorish? Yeah, miss me with it.

Then there's this:

You won't regret me (You won't regret me) Champagne confetti (Champagne confetti) I wanna see it In motion In 3D (Show it to me, girl, now, why?)

I was given to understand that "ABG" stands for "Asian Baby Girl" and refers to an Asian party girl who likes clubbing, wearing excessive makeup and tattoos, and revealing clothes, etc.

I also learned from Urban Dictionary—which can be an unreliable site with outdated or incorrect information—that "champagne" has referred to underage girls in the past and "confetti" or nowadays “champagne confetti” refers to orgasm, or sometimes when a group of men or women surround someone, masturbate, and then ejaculate on them.

Not even going to get into the shrooms thing. I'm not in a hyper conservative country with harsh punishments for those type of drugs so... I was a bit taken aback about a song about being fucked right, and now there's lyrics about what amounts to harem girls.

*sigh* Do you know how much I hope I'm reading into things incorrectly? Please correct me if I'm misunderstanding the innuendo, but this is what urban dictionary says. I'm 44 and live in a cave. Maybe I'm wrong.

But in any case, the vibe of Jack's parts in the video was not coming off respectful.

I don't care how many other rap songs objectify and insult women--I won't get behind any content that does. And don't even try to gaslight me or other ARMY into saying we should like this because it's comparatively worse in other rap songs. Don't try to suppress any discourse about it, either--let women discuss how they feel about how they are represented. Don't police women. Don't silence women.

BTS' rap music got so much better once they incorporated feminist feedback, so I'm used to a higher standard and I won't be lowering those standards for anyone. I have no hang ups about sex, but please miss. me. with. misogynistic. bullshit.

Then again, it seems some of the rap hyungs were on board with this.

So I guess industry pros have a different take on stuff like this!

*shrug*

Okay, we have established that I really don't like Jack Harlow's contributions to this song. Which means I'll support the alternative. Thank goodness they had the foresight to provide an alternative!

Now I can work for JK's charts in a way that doesn't aggravate my conscience. All good. Enough said on 3D.

Personally? I really hope JJK1 showcases JK's range of genres, but also has a range of topics besides pursuing girls or being cool.

I just can't vibe with a fuckboy persona; I never liked Justin Bieber or Justin Timberlake for that very reason, even if some of their songs sound fine. Now, if Jungkook really admires their style and wants to pursue it, I'm not going to rag on him for it. Of course not. It's his choice and I can respect people's choices without making the same choices myself.

I will always try to support our members as far as I can, even if not everything is my cup of tea.

But I can't help hoping for something personal and authentic and substantive, when it's just Jungkook coming to us without a collab. (And with Scooter at the helm for an all-English EP, I guess I'm not holding my breath. But maybe this is all part of the learning and growing process. Time will tell.)

Please know that I don't expect other people to suit me and my tastes, but neither will I enthusiastically support content with my time and money when they don't suit me at all or actually really turn me off, ya feel me? It's a real and respectful relationship I have with BTS and their music; not performative. I don't follow along quietly out of obligation, but rather a sincere joy to participate.

I love Jungkook deeply. He's a sweet and intelligent and kind-hearted young man. Amazingly talented and humble. Sincere, open to being vulnerable, protective of those whom he loves. He donates to kid's hospitals, for goodness sake. Jeon Jungkook is a good egg.

I guess I'm just sort of feeling a bit whelmed by the type of music that is in vogue these days. JK worked hard, he did well on his parts. I just am hoping his album showcases some of the emotional depth and meaningful thoughts I have seen from him in the past, if I'm being purely honest. *shrug*

Those are my less-than-two cents. Of course, you may have a vastly different perspective and I appreciate that. Just please keep it respectful of all members and each other in the comments here. It's been a long day and I desperately need some real rest now. I'm trusting I can post this and not come back to a warzone.

I've got a Friday Thirst post in the queue for you guys, and then I'll be taking a bit of a break from social media for a few days to work on work deadlines. Please keep voting for Jimin and of course stream and buy for Jungkook and other new releases.

Sending you all so much love!

~Roo

[ethankyou]

A while back I had a chance to play Cyberpunk Red, which is the 4th edition of Cyberpunk by Mike Pondsmith.

Red is also the successor to Cyberpunk 2020 which was the inspiration for the notorious Cyberpunk 2077 - haven't played, don't intend to, not the subject of my discussion here!

So how did it go?

Cyberpunk Red is a lot of crunch though plays really easy once you get past the initial learning curve of the rules.

But there are a lot of rules.

I find my go to when learning a new game is to find a video of someone trying to give a briefer on the game system and then go to the book to cement those ideas myself.

I found this video pretty helpful when researching character creation. XPLoveCat does a whole series guiding through the creation process. If you like to listen to someone explain things (it's a big help for me) this might be a great place for you to start too!

Once you pick your lifepath, if you're going with the beginner one (i don't remember what it's called it's been nearly a year sorry!) the creation process is pretty smooth, it's just following some steps. There's a medium and veteran version of the life paths that add more complexity to your character creation process and I feel like since our group was a bunch of RPG vets we could have handled that, but it does speed things up to go with the quicker start for a one shot.

Meanwhile Red is like "You have 60 skills and one of them is fashion and one of them is looking good."

Whenever I'm starting a new game I also like to have a character sheet handy so I can piece everything together. And once you get Red's character sheet in front of you, it really begins to feel like a game from the 90's with a modern coat of paint.

The character sheet in question. 3 pages!

There's a lot of fun to be had in older systems! But newer systems have opted to streamline things like skills and stats and stuff nowadays. I remember being glad that 4th edition D&D cut skills by more than half by just folding a lot of similar ones together, something that would continue into 5th edition as well. There were some casualties along the way though (rip use magic device, and all the extra knowledge skills!) and typically the stuff that got cut was stuff that would facilitate like... You know.... Playing a character? Not just murderhoboing your way across the country.

Pictured below, everything that is "Cool" in the year 2045 (taken from a custom character sheet)

Creating a character is an interesting process because it follows this lifepath system. So you choose one of several paths and the game streamlines the creation process by directing you which page to go to next in an almost "choose your own adventure" sort of layout. This is very helpful, but while it's easy to go forward, it's not so easy to go back. If you went to the wrong page or just didn't like what you read and want to try something else, you'll be searching for where you made that wrong turn. A lot of ttrpg books can be like this so this isn't exactly a new problem, but the way the book is laid out it really does need you to follow this path to new pages instead of discovering the information yourself by reading on. I guess just write down the page numbers of places you want to go back to before flipping forward.

Initially finding things on the sheet is tough because if you're told to make a "Tracking" check, you might not immediately assume that's an Int skill. Since the skills are grouped by attribute, you'll have to go through the process of figuring out what skill belongs to which group. I don't think this is a bad thing, because the alternative would be an alphabetical list of 60+ skills, which might make it harder to figure out their associated stat, or would just make the sheet more bloaty with repeated stats beside each and every skill. All games have an adjustment period to them and this is a pretty minor one. I remember this being a sticking point for our group after playing it originally but having some time to think on it I think there's a valid argument to be made either way. Someone in our group even mentioned this was one custom character sheet away from not being an issue and I agree. And apparently others do too because there's a lot of them out there! Many of which sort the skills differently and many also try to condense the 3 page sheet to 2. I know there's a lot of wasted real estate on the third page but it's pretty cool!

There are also apparently free quick start rules that come with premade characters and everything! Free is free and you can check that out on drive thru RPG! It's called easy mode but my understanding is this includes the core rules too. This would probably be the best choice for a one shot game to test the water but we just weren't aware of them at the time.

But a major part of creation is your role. This is the part I might be the most critical of. While they give you a lot of skills and everyone has access to the same skills, each role has basically one major ability that only they can do. The med tech can use medicines to help the groups, the netrunner can take more actions while in a netrun. That kind of thing. But that's pretty much it. Improving your role may allow you to use your role abilities better or more frequently, but there's not a lot in the way of new abilities.

And also the divisions between the roles feel pretty arbitrary. Like the med tech is the only one who can use a bunch of medicines. But why? Everyone has access to the first aid skill, which is something the med tech is also proficient in. What's stopping someone from taking one of their medicines and using it?

I think having well defined roles for each player is very important! And the roles do provide this, but I don't feel like they go far enough. We did only play one session though so perhaps this is something that would be more evident over time.

I played a Netrunner (a hacker) which ends up also having to play a little minigame separate from the rest of the action. I knew what I was getting into but wanted to try it out to see how the game handles it. In previous games that I've played a hacker, it bogged down the game by either having an entire session play out for the hacker while everyone else waits, or does nothing while everyone else is in the middle of the action because they have to stay with their big cool hacker rig. Red deals with this in a really great way - your rig is a headset that has wifi. And if you want to hack a secure system, you need to be hardwired into that system. This means the Netrunner has to be on site and still has an opportunity to join the action. Or may even be forced to do both at once.

As far as the actual hacking game goes, I really like the implementation of hacking a cyber infrastructure. You bring programs that all serve different functions, such as attacks or other actions and then you have to fight your way up the digitial infrastructure, with each level offering more rewards, but higher threats. The programs all have a fantasy aesthetic and the architecture functions kind of like a dungeon in Netspace. You can take multiple netspace actions, but you're still able to act in meatspace as well during this time. Sometimes you'll have to balance your actions in and out of netspace.

The biggest problem I had with the Netrunner goes back to my problem with roles. There's a Tech stat and several Tech skills so what kind of check do you make? Why, you add your role to your roll! The Netrunner uses their role, which starts at +4. Compared to their Tech skills which are floating around a +10 or so. Now the DVs for these checks are all lower to compensate for this but... Why do we gotta do it this way?

There could easily be a skill that could have covered this and the DVs could have been comparable to everything else in the game. You might think, well if other characters were allowed to hack, they could prove to be just as effective as the Netrunner so it has to be a balance issue right? Well the Netrunner role allows them to take 3 actions a round in Netspace which would make them much more efficient than someone without the role. But also having the role is what grants the interface feature, which is required to take NET actions at all! But even though the Netrunner is obviously the best choice for the task, what's stopping someone else with a rig from attempting the same thing and just being less efficient at it.

The way I guess this is addressed, is that you can take on other roles potentially? You have 4 in your starting role, so I believe you'd start with 1 in a new role. But with a +4 in my Netrunner role I found that I struggled a lot, so I can't even imagine floundering around with just a +1. You'd be at the whims of the dice.

Despite that though, I appreciate the game does allow this sort of multi-classing. Especially since many of the roles seem to be very gear based, so it feels silly to not allow any crossover.

In the end, the hacking did feel balanced, which is important. But it didn't feel awesome, which i guess is what it came down to for me. But I also failed a lot of those checks Netrunner checks, which brings me to my last major gripe.

Rolling a single d10 for checks is fine, but if you critically fail on a 1, which is 10% of the time, that is lame. I don't mind using a d10 for checks but without some kind of way to mitigate 1's it makes things brutal, not in a fun or challenging way. I feel like if I was going to play again, I would need the crit fails to just be gone altogether.

Overall, I did enjoy Cyberpunk Red! I think it's a bit hard to dig into for a oneshot, but we managed just fine. If you really wanted to get a feel for it though, I'd recommend you play a 3-5 session arc. This game is definitely worth your time!

I'm also curious about going back to previous iterations to see how it's changed over time.

So, fun fact time, Cyberpunk Red was published in 2020, 30 years after Cyberpunk 2020 was originally published which is goes hand in hand with every scifi media that has predicted a date in the "far future" that we have now reached (and passed!).

See you in 2045 for the 5th edition of Cyberpunk I suppose!

[vcendent]

art vs industry

Sometimes I'm having a good day, but then sometimes I think about how industry is actively killing creative fields and that goes away. People no longer go to woodworkers for tables and chairs and cabinets, but instead pick from one of hundreds of mass-produced designs made out of cheap particle board instead of paying a carpenter for furniture that is both made to last generations and leaves room for customization. With the growth of population and international trade, the convenience and low production costs are beneficial in some aspects, but how many local craftsmen across the world were put out of business? How many people witnessed their craft die before their eyes? There is no heart or identity put into mass produced items; be it furniture, ceramics, metalwork, or home decor; and at the end of the day everybody ends up with the same, carbon copy stuff in their homes.

I'm a big fan of animated movies, and I see this same thing happening too. When was the last time western audiences saw a new 2D animated movie hit theatres? I can't speak for other countries, but, at least in America, I believe The Princess and the Frog was the last major 2D movie released and that was back in 2009. Major studios nowadays are unwilling to spend the time and money that it would take to pay traditional animators who have spent years honing their craft to go frame by frame, and to pay painters to create scene backgrounds. We talk a lot about machines replacing jobs, but when the machines come, artistry professions are some of the first to be axed (in part because industry does not see artistry as "valuable" professions). Art, music, and writing are no longer seen as "real" jobs because they belong to the creative field and there's this inane idea that anyone who goes into those fields will be unsuccessful and starving. I'm not saying that 3D animation is bad, it has its own merits and required skills and can be just as impressive as anything 2D, but it has smothered 2D animation and reduced it largely to studios that cannot afford the tech to animate 3D.

And now we have this whole AI thing to deal with, stealing existing artists' work to "train" it to take over those few professions that, until now, required actual people to do them. Internet artists have already been dealing with people complaining about the price of art for years and now have to face their work being stolen to train AI. With AI technology, anyone who undervalues the work of the artist can now get something generated at little or no cost to them, all at the expense of the artists themselves. Why would studios pay script writers when they could just get an algorithm to do it without pay? Why pay actors to bring characters to life or pay models to pose for ads when CGI has progressed enough we could digitally render humans and cut out having to pay people entirely? Why use practical effects or film on location when green screens and adding in-post is faster and so much cheaper? It's no wonder we had the SAG-AFTRA strike. AI has already been trained to write children's books and produce music, continuing down this road will replace authors and musicians too at the convenience of cost. How much longer until the actual, real-life people behind all forms of artistry become completely obsolete?

Industry is just driving the cost of people-made crafts up and up with every mass produced product and every streamlined shortcut to reduce costs, which only makes it harder and harder for artists of all kinds to make a living, as very few people want to pay for the time and skill of artists when they could just pick something off a shelf or feed AI a prompt and get something satisfactory enough, yet not what they actually wanted, for so much cheaper.

[saline-coelacanth]

Alright, here it is. The Kalmaar essay about why I think he's great and why I think he's better than Pythor. This post is gonna be long so I'm gonna put most of it under a cut. I wrote this all in about an hour so some things may be a bit sloppy, but I think it still gets my points across

____________________

So I’ve had Kalmaar on my mind a lot lately, and whenever I think about him, I just think about how great he is as a villain. I enjoy this squid bitch a lot and I feel like he is criminally underrated. Now to preface, I’ve only watched all of Seabound a few times, so some things may be a bit fuzzy for me. And I was also not active in the fandom when Seabound first came out, so I don’t really know what the general consensus was on his character initially, but nowadays, it feels like he doesn’t really get talked about all too much. And I find that to be a real shame because I enjoy him immensely. So I think it’s about time I actually give an in depth explanation for why I find Kalmaar so enjoyable and also so I can explain the bold claim of mine that he is a better villain than Pythor, at least when comparing Kalmaar to season 1 Pythor.

To start off with the easy stuff, I just think Kalmaar is fun to watch. He has a very good balance between funny and intimidating that can be really hard to pull off with your villains. I don’t know if I would go as far as to say that Kalmaar is the funniest Ninjago villain, but he is definitely pretty high on my list. And a lot of this comes from his voice delivery. Giles Panton does an amazing job voicing Kalmaar and is able to pull off the intimidating and funny moments incredibly well. In fact, I’d say the voice acting for Kalmaar is one of the main reasons why Kalmaar is as enjoyable as he is, at least for me. But he also just plays off of other characters really well. A notable scene is when he captures Nya and Maya and tries to get information out of them. Obviously a lot of the humor here comes from Nya messing with him, but Kalmaar’s growing frustration is still really funny to watch.

Ok, now that I’ve given the small basis, let’s get into comparing him to Pythor. Now pretty much everyone has compared these two and said that they are the same character. They both had this plan to reawaken an ancient, giant snake to wreak havoc on the surface world and ended up getting defeated when they were eaten by said giant snake. They’re also both purple and british. So yeah, very understandable to compare the two of them. Luckily for me, this just makes things easier to compare and contrast my points. Now to start off, I will talk about one thing that Pythor does have over Kalmaar which is motivation. Pythor was mainly motivated by revenge as the humans locked the Serpentine in tombs, and yeah that’s understandable to get upset about. Meanwhile Kalmaar doesn’t have much motivation at all. I have my own personal headcanons for why Kalmaar is the way that he is, but in canon, we don’t get an explanation. Trimaar was very chill and had no dislike of the surface dwellers, meanwhile Kalmaar just always seemed to hate them for… no given reason. He’s just like that. And I know some people don’t like that, but I don’t really have a problem with it. Not every villain needs a reason to be evil. Sometimes they are just evil people and that’s ok. That might sound a bit hypocritical coming from someone who shits on the Overlord for being generic evil guy, but that’s mainly because the Overlord has a lot of other problems that I don’t wanna get into right now because this post isn’t about him. It’s about Kalmaar.

So Kalmaar doesn’t have a real motivation or reason as to why he’s evil. Some people don’t like that, but I have little issue with it because in my opinion Kalmaar makes up for it with basically everything else about him. To get back to the Pythor comparisons, I feel like the evil actions Kalmaar takes are so much more impactful than what Pythor does. Again, comparing Kalmaar to Pythor from season 1 since that’s the season where Pythor’s plan is most similar to Kalmaar’s. Pythor manages to rally all the different Serpentine tribes together through deceit by using the flute to defeat the other generals. (And also Skales helping him out). So Pythor gets the rest of the Serpentine to follow his rule, which is impressive. I feel the need to remind everyone that I ADORE Pythor and this post is not meant to hate on him at all. But when you compare Pythor’s rise to power to Kalmaar’s, it is very obvious to me which one comes out on top. Kalmaar gives what I think is one of the most badass lines from a villain in this show during an interaction with his father:

Trimaar: “I will not accept this brazen defiance! You have no power here, Kalmaar. I am your father and your king!”

Kalmaar: “I can’t do anything about the first thing, but as to the second…”

And then Kalmaar proceeds to shoot his own father, ultimately killing him. Not just that, but he also shoots the two guards who try to apprehend him afterwards, presumably killing them as well. After this, Kalmaar throws his trident to the ground and calls for help, blaming the ninja for attacking the king. In an instant, Kalmaar has turned an entire kingdom against the ninja while also making himself the new king. I don’t understand how people can look at this scene and then say that Kalmaar sucks as a villain. And to be fair, it is hard to tell if the people who do actually hate Kalmaar think he’s a genuinely bad villain or if they hate him because he’s a terrible person and they don’t actually think he’s a bad villain, they just hate him as a person. But that still doesn’t change the fact that nobody seems to talk about him, so yeah I feel like this scene is incredibly underrated.

And yeah, Pythor cannibalized the other anacondrai. That’s pretty messed up. But we don’t see that happening, it happens off screen. (Not that they would show that on screen, this is a kids show after all and I don’t think they wanna show on screen cannibalism) But I don’t think it’s ever confirmed whether or not Pythor ate all of the anacondrai, or if they all started eating each other and Pythor was the last one remaining. I always assumed they ate each other but I’ve seen some people argue that it was just Pythor. But with Kalmaar, we see him kill his father on screen. We get on screen patricide AND regicide, all in one combo! We also get an extremely emotional scene between Trimaar and Benthomaar afterwards. You can tell just how heartbroken Trimaar feels after realizing that his son is an irredeemable monster who wants to cause absolute calamity for the world. We never really get a scene like this regarding Pythor. The closest we get is the other Serpentine realizing that releasing the Great Devourer would mean they all get eaten as well, but that’s mainly played up for laughs, at least with the initial scene. We also get comments from Skales saying that he told the others not to listen to Pythor, but they didn’t want to listen. We never actually see Skales doubting Pythor’s plan to reawaken the Great Devourer, he just makes a comment about in season 2, and in season 1 he says, quote: “How was I supposed to know he was mad?” after being questioned on why they listened to Pythor in the first place.

Going back to Kalmaar for a bit, his relationship towards Benthomaar is another thing that makes him such a despicable villain in the best way possible. He is terrible to Benthomaar, that much I don’t need to explain, everyone knows that. Bentho’s character arc from wanting nothing but the love of his adopted brother, and then learning that Kalmaar killed their father, learning just how terrible of a person Kalmaar truly is, and deciding to side against him is such a great arc. Benthomaar is probably one of the best written side characters in Ninjago because of it, and I don’t think a lot of people are gonna argue with me on that. We love Bentho in this house. I feel like it’s fair to say that Kalmaar is more of Benthomaar’s villain than he is Nya’s, or at the very least Kalmaar is both a Nya and Benthomaar villain. But yeah, I feel like the fact that it’s Benthomaar who ultimately defeats Kalmaar really shows how important their relationship was to the plot of Seabound. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe that Bentho is the only side character who defeats the main villain of the season without much help from the ninja.

Speaking of that final battle, let’s talk more about Kalmaar and Pythor’s plans. As mentioned before, they have pretty much the same exact plan just with different coats of paint. But the way they go about said plan is the main glaring point as to why I think Kalmaar is better than Pythor. See, when Pythor succeeded in reawakening the Great Devourer, he immediately got eaten by it. And yes, it was because Wu literally held him captive so he couldn’t escape, but that doesn’t change the fact that his plan backfired greatly. Meanwhile you have Kalmaar, who actually made sure that he would be able to control the giant snake before he started sicking it on the city. And yes, he did end up getting defeated the same way Pythor did, by getting eaten by the giant snake they tried to control, but Pythor’s downfall was immediate. Kalmaar had control over Wojira for quite a while until Benthomaar destroyed his trident and Wojira regained control. So even if you enjoy Pythor more than Kalmaar, you cannot argue with me that Pythor in season 1 was smarter than Kalmaar in Seabound. Maybe you could make the argument for Pythor in season 3, but right now we’re only focusing on season 1. Season 1 Pythor’s plan was just much more flawed than Kalmaar’s plan in Seabound.

So yeah, those were a lot of the main reasons why I think Kalmaar is an amazing villain and why I think he’s better than Pythor. When I first watched Seabound, I had said that Kalmaar was my new favorite villain, dethroning Pythor who had been my favorite for a long time. But part of me thought that I was probably just overhyping him in my head because it was a new season for me so it was exciting. It happens all the time where you experience something new and then immediately claim that it’s your new favorite thing only for time to pass and you realize it’s not as great as you initially thought. But given the amount of time passing, I don’t think my opinions have changed all too much. Maybe I still like Pythor more because I’m just very attached to Pythor, but then again Pythor had A LOT more screen time in the show compared to Kalmaar. Maybe if Kalmaar appeared in more than one season he’d surpass Pythor with a lot more ease, but for now I’d say they’re extremely close and my favorite changes between the two depending on how I’m feeling. Point is, I still see Kalmaar as one of my favorite Ninjago villains of all time. I guess it makes sense that the only one to give Pythor competition would be Pythor again except now he’s a squid.

To end things, I just wanna reiterate that these are my opinions. You can dislike Kalmaar for whatever reason you have, I’m not gonna force people to enjoy him. I just think that he’s a severely underrated villain in the fandom and I wish more people appreciated him. Seabound is one of the best seasons of Ninjago and people praise it all the time for its writing, for the arc that Nya goes through, and for pretty much everything. But the one amazing part of this season that I feel like doesn’t get talked about enough is Kalmaar. I don’t tend to write these long essay-type posts, and if anyone has reached this part I appreciate you greatly for listening to me ramble about this squid bitch. Even if I am the only one on this hill, I will continue to gas up Kalmaar as the fantastic villain he is to me. And maybe I was able to convince some people that he’s a pretty good villain as well. If not, well then that’s ok, too. I’m just glad I was able to share my own opinions and ramblings about Kalmaar.

[pinkniz]

I think a lot about Sander having PTSD, the Sander we know now has this vibe of never doing physical work in his life but the one from the past definitely had it tough

I just think he has it to some extent, we know that the Dislyte world isn't exactly ideal to live in, theres literally very few habitable areas in it and I think Sander has definitely seen some stuff

I can imagine his army days being rather tough due to how basically all armed forces in Dislyte are dedicated to keeping miramon out of habitable areas which we know is extremely dangerous and he has likely seen a lot of comrades get crushed, bitten and impaled by miramon. Same thing when he joined the Union, probably dealing less with miramon caused tragedies but instead seeing up close the crimes and atrocities some espers can do or the way humans treat espers.

(I also have this little hc that he used to have a tail but he lost it in combat bc he was forced to cut it off)

And don't get me started on all the atrocities that happen daily on the Shadow Decree, even if he eventually got desensitized by it there has definitely been some that affected him, he just doesn't fully care anymore because he sees them as necessary and inevitable sacrifices for his goals(thats probably what he tells himself to feel better)

He definitely handles it rather..."well". To him is mostly disguising his true thoughts, ignoring them and anything triggering and desensitizing himself but he does show signs like disassociating, headaches, irritability, difficulty sleeping, nightmares, detachment and avoidance.

Also consider Falken being the only person on Earth that has seen Sander having a PTSD episode and being the only one that could calm him down. Nowadays Sander doesnt have episodes often but when he does, he's completely alone.

[turnstechgodhead]

well regardless of where you got it from i really love that line, i think it adds an interesting angle to their relationship. what do you think bro knew about the nature of the game and dave’s destiny for him to think of raising dave that way? im also curious about the subject matter of the fics you may have gotten inspiration from

thanks i think so too

i dont remember unfortunately; in regards to the fics. i dont really read fics nowadays and i do tend to read short ones to avoid This happening- where i absorb something and forget about it

more about bro under cut

i feel like bro knew some things; i like to keep certain parts of the 'game' aspect of their reality away from them

like for example: bro doesn't know EVERYTHING about what hes supposed to do. like he wasnt spawned in with I am A Guardian in his brain; he was a whole ass human person for 24 years until he got dave

growing up a lot of his information came from cal because since he was destined to be a guardian, he had nagging feelings in the back of his mind telling him to do certain things: get this apartment, do this that way, etc. and cal just enforced those

i think dirk's reason for raising dave that way is a combintion of the fact that thats the only way cal(iborn) referred to dave and that bro was never allowed to actually bond with dave (because caliborn made him believe that platonic affection is in fact not platonic at all and is instead sexual[the implications when bro is constantly carrying around cal with his arms around his neck btw. insane.])

i've talked about it a lil bit with input from error707-thatdude (whos training to dooooo... something w psychological development of kids or something? sorry i forgored) on stream and the lack of interaction/affection can be potentially fatal to human children

so every time dirk wanted to do what honestly, his instincts were telling him to do (hold dave, be gentle [even if stiff]) , he wasn't able to because he had caliborn in his ear whispering that he was being deeply fucking inappropriate with his goddamn son which . Jesus Christ. (ive come to the conclusion bc of this that the daves we see in canon are the daves that made it past childhood, as error707 said: the exceptions)

the fact that caliborn constantly told him about how dave was the knight and he needed to be the knight. he needed to enter the medium. if he didn't enter the medium then everything that dirk's entire life has been leading up to has been a disappointment, a mistake, and he doesn't want to disappoint his very dear best friend cal does he? hee hee hee.

he also told him about how dave is SUPPOSED to be. cool, stoic. that kinda stuff, bc calibrn has a bit of a gay thing for both of them im sure.

+ the deep feeling inside of dirk that he Knew cal was right (something something; destiny/fate/will of the universe/etc), that dirk existed to do this; to get cal into the medium, to get dave into the medium, to make them stronger, led to dirk thinking of dave as his goal instead of anything remotely resembling family-

all of that accumulates into his brain dissassociating dave from himself as family and instead as a goal and a figure of something he NEEDS to polish or it wont work when the gear is inserted into the frame

things like this are delicate and they HAVE to be taken special care of during assembly, or you'll be left with nothing. (go watch how its made- wristwatches. its like that.)

sorry if all this doesnt make sense; feel free to ask for clarification and ill happily provide

[thewiz9062]

[Smiling Critters]

It's yaoi day (aug 1) and the people have spoken

Fic under the cut <3 (can be considered platonic)

"I usually encourage your pacing because it means you're thinking for once, but it's a bit annoying at the moment."

-

Kickin' looks at bubba with pure exhaustion. "Shut up, you're not helping anyway!" Earlier, he and Bubba had invited dogday out for a day in town, just the 3 of them. But of course, Dogday never goes anywhere without Catnap nowadays. Ever since school ended and summer began, Dogday brought the tired boy with him to each of the critter meetings. Honestly, he can't believe he forgot.

So now here Kickin' and Bubba are, remaking plans. Don't get him wrong, he definitely thinks that catnap can come along, he has nothing against him. He just.....knows next to nothing about him. And kickin' knows that he wouldn't go out to places HE wouldn't like so why would he make catnap? These are his first frienda that aren't Bubba in a while, he can't really afford to mess this up. Currently, they're making off things that might be ill-suited and due to Bubba, things that are-

"I tried to help, but you keep shooting down my ideas! Rocket skates are an AMAZING idea."

-questionably safe and/or illegal.

Kickin' throws himself on the nearest bean bag and groans. "We're getting nowhere..."

"You've never panicked like this before about a simple outing and....speaking of which, dogday and catnap should be heading out since it's almost time already," Bubba nonchalantly points out.

"WHAT."

"Yup! And you know what? We," Bubba points between the two of them and drags kickin' downstairs and out the door "Are gonna wing it."

-

Truth be told, kickin' thinks catnap is cool.

Yeah, sue him, but catnap seems to be the embodiment of the persona he's made for himself. He gives off this broody vibe, never talks (Bubba theorized that it might be condition, but he has no confirmation so , and just blends into the background.

Blending into the background is the best part. It keeps the bullies away.

So as Bubba spots a mini convention and Kickin' shares his reluctant distaste of such a place, Bubba places a bag of money ("Your idea of an outing is probably shopping or spending a lot of some sort") into his hands and drags dogday to the convention, leaving Kickin' and Catnap to do their own thing.

Which leaves Kickin' awkwardly avoiding eye contact between him and Catnap.

'Wow I'm unprepared.'

-

Despite the way the chicken across from him attempts to hide it, Catnap can see that he was interested in the convention, considering his eyes wander to it every now and then. He doesn't know why he would lie to Bubba, because from what Dogday has told him about them, they seem close enough to know each other's interests.

Either way, he doesn't have any other things he wants to do today, so he grabs kickin's arm and points to the convention.

"You wanna go in there?" Kickin' questions. "I mean it's probably pretty boring in there, Bubba likes that kind of stuff." Kickin' has the face of a liar on. It doesn't matter, because as kickin' finishes speaking, Catnap is already walking towards it. Kickin' catches up to him after complaining, and the two enter.

"So, uh, can you...talk? Sorry if that's rude, but I'm kinda curious." Kickin' attempts an ice breaker.

He wants to, but he can't. He can talk to dogday in a private space after their bonding, but not in public, so Catnap just shakes his head.

"Oh, got it."

As they walk further in, they see brightly colored stalls and people in costume. Catnap doesn't know any of the characters displayed, but looking at Kickin's look of awe and adoration, it seems he does. He nudges him, and points at a stall themed after a man with a red and black suit with katanas on his back, hoping to get his question across.

"Him? That's Deadpool, he's a mercenary, pretty funny and cocky but he gets the job done." Kickin' moves his gaze to the other character that the stall Is themed after. "And that's wolverine, the leader of a group called the X-Men. Both of them are way less popular than other heroes, well, more like a anti-hero for Deadpool, but they're cool. They're getting a movie together soon, should probably watch it." Catnap absorbed every word of his explanation, and at the end of it, kickin' casually pauses, then jolts as he realizes how much he just explained for someone who doesn't like this kind of thing.

Kickin' starts sputtering a rushed explanation and Catnap notices he looks mildly scared. He doesn't know why he hides the fact he likes these things, but he doesn't like the implications. Catnap gives him a smile and pats his shoulder, then looks at the merch available on the stall. He picks up two pins, and gives one to kickin'.

"You...wanna get these? I- okay." Catnap watches as Kickin' goes up to the merchant (In... A Deadpool costume, he notes, proud of himself for paying attention) and purchases the pins.

Catnap makes a miserable attempt at placing the pin on his sweater, until Kickin' notices and offers to help. After Kickin' correctly places the pin on his sweater, Catnap gives him a thumbs up, and Kickin's face brightens.

Catnap points to another stall that catches his eye, and they both head over, Kickin' explaining every character and reference for Catnap.

In catnap's opinion, whoever made the boy scared to share his interests must have been visually impaired, as he thinks he looks much more natural in this environment. He's always noticed the 'cool guy' persona he keeps up with the other critters, so it's nice to see him enjoying himself. He found himself enjoying learning about these things that he's missed out on, even as going as far as purchasing a book or two to read at 'home.'

Eventually, the two boys are not only out of money and overed in merch, they're also late, as Kickin' gets a notification from Bubba asking about his whereabouts. They quickly rush out, and are met with surprise from Dogday and Bubba, as they assumed they went somewhere else. Sadly, Kickin' and Bubba are nearly late for dinner and have to go home fast, quickly saying their goodbyes.

As he and Dogday walk towards their respective residences, he reminiscences about the day, anticipating the next time they go out like this.

-

(Extra)

Bubba: I thought you were done with comics~ Someone change your mind?

Kickin: *flustered* You're dead to me.

[End]

-

GASSSSHSHSHSHHS MY BELOVEDS

It's not really romancy and can be considered platonic if ya don't like the ship but hhahwjehss

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

I always think about how in multiple episodes it's basically canon that Blanche is bi but considers dating women to be more hassle (which is a whole rabbit hole to go down - does she struggle with societal homophobia when she's with women? Has she only been with fellow high maintenance femmes when shes really after a Dorothy type? Has she internalized the idea that her attraction to women isn't 'real'? Her reaction to Clayton adds to these questions). Not to mention how this goes together with her relationships with the girls; making to kiss Rose that one time (and Rose multiple times seeming very aware of Blanche's proclivities), begging Dorothy for 'relief' and being convinced she's attracted to women too.

Yes, anon! It’s really interesting to delve into Blanche’s psyche about all this stuff!

I started writing down my thoughts and ended up with a long ramble -- allow me to place it all under a cut, so I don't clog up anyone's dash, haha.

Personally, I think she has some strong mental blocks when it comes to her sexuality because of the way she was brought up. I mean, she grew up in Atlanta approx in the 1930s/1940s — I’m sure I don’t have to detail the kind of casual bigotry she must have seen around her during her formative years! Just look at the story she recounts in S1E13 A Little Romance:

“Now, you have to understand that in those days in the South a lot of things were still taboo. Certain people were not to mix. So Benjamin and I had to meet in secret. Oh, we knew if any of the bigots in town found out about us, there’d be a terrible scandal.”

And all of this because Benjamin was a yankee… can you imagine what ‘the bigots in town’ thought about homosexuality? Yeah, I’m pretty sure Blanche learned to suppress that part of herself very early on. We know she turns to denial when she’s faced with uncomfortable truths and emotions she can’t deal with, so I think she likely just refuses to acknowledge that part of herself most of the time, and it only comes out (pun intended!) when she’s not paying much attention to things, or when there’s something more important going on. See the two examples you point out: when she tries to kiss Rose she’s concerned with not being kissed at midnight, and when she propositions Dorothy she’s, well… she’s desperate to get some, if we can be frank.

When she’s in a more rational state, her reactions tend to be more measured… but not by much. She does advise Rose not to date women (S3E10 The Audit):

“Oh, no, honey, don’t do that! No job is worth having to date women!”

But she’s also really flattered at receiving lots and lots of phone calls from women, after her appearance as a ‘lesbian’ on TV (S7E15 Goodbye, Mr Gordon):

“By the way, Dorothy, if I were a lesbian, I sure would be a popular one. Look at this, 20 calls.”

And of course we can’t forget her reaction to finding out that Jean has a crush on Rose in S2E5 Isn’t It Romantic?:

“Jean has the hots for Rose? I don’t believe it, I do not believe it! […] To think Jean would prefer Rose over me? That’s ridiculous! […] Now you tell me the truth: if you had to pick between Rose and me, who would you pick? Who?”

All of these are (likely) intended to be jokes about her vanity and her libertine nature (in the same way as Rose’s observations are), but considering a lot of the writers of this show were queer themselves, it wouldn’t seem strange to me if they were intentionally peppered in to suggest that Blanche might be a bisexual in denial. It certainly fits her character!

I haven’t spoken about her reaction to Clayton’s coming out yet, but that’s immensely interesting too, of course. I think Blanche has the same attitude towards homosexuality that I see in a lot of (mostly older) people in my Country nowadays: it’s fine as a general concept, but when it comes to her family (or, God forbid, herself) then the problems come out. See for example what she says about Jean:

“Well, I’ll never understand what Jean doesn’t see in the opposite sex, but if that makes her happy, that’s fine by me!”

Which isn’t a homophobic attitude at all! If anything, if you take her upbringing into account, it’s pretty accepting. But then, when Clayton comes out to her (S4E9 Scared Straight) and tells her he wants to get married (S6E14 Sister Of The Bride), this is what she says:

“Oh, Clayton, please be serious. You're just saying that so I won't set you up with any more women. […] Well, then you're saying it 'cause you're trying to get back at me for something. Clay, I know you too well for this. After all, I know it can't be true. You're my brother. […] Clayton Hollingsworth. You look me in the face and tell me you really are… what you just said you are.”

“I'm having a little trouble putting this all together. Clayton, I just feel like I don't know you anymore.”

“[…] Dorothy, that's different. We're talking about going out in public. Oh, what are people gonna say?”

“Will you tell me why you want to put yourself and Doug through this? You know how people can be.”

“Oh, look, I can accept the fact that he's gay, but why does he have to slip a ring on this guy's finger so the whole world will know?”

Quite the difference from her attitude towards Jean, wouldn’t you say? I think there’s three elements at play here.

1) When Clayton comes out to Blanche, she feels disoriented because this is life-changing information Clayton has never shared with her before. While her reaction as a whole isn’t ideal, personally I think it’s understandable. Clayton is her baby brother; she’s known him as straight all his life, he’s been married to a woman for years before his divorce, and she recounts an episode from their adolescence when he was on a date with a woman and very clearly implicated having a physical encounter with her. He's done everything in his power to pass as straight until this point in time -- I don't find it strange that Blanche would be shocked at his coming out, especially given her upbringing (and the fact that this is set in the 80s! We can't expect modern sensibilities from the characters!). Once again, her reaction isn't the best (she can't even bring herself to say the word 'gay' at first...), but the shock per se isn't that surprising, imho.

2) Blanche is scared because of societal implications above all. She doesn't necessarily see being queer as something wrong, but she's been taught it's not socially acceptable and acts accordingly. Notice how she's worried about what people are going to say, and she struggles to accept that Clayton wants the whole world to know about his relationship with Doug.

Societal expectations in general are a big theme for Blanche's character, and often drive her development; another big example of this is her attitude towards Rebecca's decision to get artificially inseminated, but it's a bit of a baseline issue for her, I feel. She has this whole thing about her beauty and her (supposed) youth and her attractiveness that has some inherent elements, but it's mostly an issue of how other people perceive her, I think, and her response to her brother's coming out is easy to relate to this theme. I mean, she even says it to Rose in S7E15:

"Well, I don't mind being labeled a lesbian, honey, but since I'm not, you just ruined my social life."

So yeah. I think it's safe to say her main concern is societal disapproval of queerness: she wants to be accepted and celebrated by the people around her, and she thinks that being openly queer will destroy her place in her social circle (and she's worried about the same happening to Clayton too, of course).

3) This is sort of related to point 2, but it felt distinct enough to treat it separately. I think she might have reacted so badly to Clayton's coming out (and especially to his showing up with a partner) because he's open about his sexuality, and she's not ready to face what that means for her. My lovely mutual @\hecatesbroom recently published her latest amazing work the odd one(s) out, on the relationship between Dorothy and her brother Phil and how Phil's open queerness might have impacted Dorothy; I think a similar situation might have occurred between Blanche and Clayton after his coming out.

Blanche has a sort of advantage on Dorothy because of her bisexuality, in the sense that she has 'passing privilege' (I really dislike this concept, but allow me to use it to make a point): it's painfully clear that she loved her late husband with all her heart, and she's obviously attracted to men as well, so she can pretend not to like women without too much of a hassle (whereas, if you believe Dorothy to be a repressed lesbian, her situation is much more complicated).

The issue with this is that this 'advantage' is a double-edged sword: she might have the comfort of being socially acceptable, but she's had to suffocate a big part of herself to obtain that comfort. And so, what happens when Clayton -- her baby brother Clayton, the one who's always been just like her, who's grown up with her same environment and influences -- begins openly living as a gay man? I'm sure the situation must have had a strong impact on her, even if just on a subconscious level; I've always found it curious that she seems to have a harder time accepting Clayton in S6E14 than she does in S4E9 (she even calls his sexuality a phase), and while a part of it may be attributed to the higher social exposure Clayton's commitment to Doug brings, I think this may be a result of her inner conflict, provoked by watching her brother live openly while she's been suppressing a part of herself all her life.

Here I'm assuming she's never acted upon her attraction to women before, but there's some space to believe she has done so and has decided it's too much of a hassle, as you say -- likely because she'd for sure do it in secret, given her fear of societal condemnation. If she has been with women before, and decided to give up on it, I still think she'd be greatly impacted by Clayton's coming out: it means her baby brother is a) braver than she is, and b) going to openly face (and likely suffer because of) the same social issues she's run away from. In this lens, I find it interesting that she cautions him about how people can be, almost as if they've both experienced it.

Whew. Wow, this was a lot more than I'd originally meant to write, haha! Seems you sparked a big train of thought, anon! I think all of the Girls (with the possible exception of Sophia) are really fascinating to analyze with a queer lens, and Blanche is always interesting to me, of course. As a final note, I'd like to point out that she does come around to Clayton's sexuality and his relationship, in the end: as often happens, she just needs the Girls' help to put things back in perspective, understand she's hurting someone she loves, and correct her actions. I'd like to think living with the Girls might lead to her becoming more accepting of herself, too.

[saveraedae]

Late Indie Animation Day Post (A thread)

Pouring my heart out edition

Nothing new to show for myself this go around, but hi! I'm Saver! I'm making The Mark Side— a comedy about queer teens in Texas with an underlying personal story about life, mental health, & navigating friendship with a best friend who wants nothing to do with you!

My thread here is less about the series' content, but about my journey as a creator through the years, and my gameplan for it moving forward. If you wanna learn about the series itself check out this post or go to the official TMS website.

But if you've never heard of me— hi!

I'm Saver! An artist, storyteller, and animator!

A bunch of personal and sappy stuff below the cut!

I am not new to the indie animation scene by any means. Just a very small creator with a tiny reach. My journey in beginning to develop TMS as a show kicked off in 2016 when I was only 13.

During this time I made lots of little productions with TMS, most of which had pretty sub-par quality. (I was a kid with no experience after all.)

They're all still out there if you go looking for them!

But hey, I set out to make stuff and guess what? That's what I did!

In 2020, I released an animatic titled "Friend Fiction," which serves as both the pilot as well as episode 1 to the show. I was in high school during its creation and had no idea what I was doing, and it shows! But guess what? I set out to make something, and did exactly that.

Episode 2, "An In-Tents Trip" is currently in production. It will feature a huge increase in production quality, full animation, and will serve as the proof of concept for the show as a whole! (A bit messy with the proof of concept to pilot pipeline, but it's got the spirit!)

Throughout the years I've been through so many personal struggles, both related to TMS and not. There's been countless times where I felt like I was at my breaking point, or like I wasn't good enough. But I kept pushing through, because I wanted to see the show come to life.

I've spent my whole life up until recently living with undiagnosed neurodivergence and untreated mental health issues, and only a short time ago did I realize that despite all of that, I always held onto my one goal: To make a cartoon and tell a story.

Ever since I was a young child, even before TMS existed, I always knew I wanted to make cartoons. Not just any cartoons, my own cartoons. I remember being just 4 years old and daydreaming about spearheading my own production, telling my own stories and entertaining others.

A handful of indie cartoons nowadays, much like industry produced cartoons, feature full teams managing each department, as well as several to many other animators. Which is cool as hell! Who would have thought that one day animation would come to this point?

GLITCH and Spindlehorse are truly blowing my mind by what they have and continue to accomplish. It's really remarkable and satisfying to see as someone who grew up thinking the only way to get things in front of others was to give up control and sacrifice the quality.

Another handful of shows though, which The Mark Side falls under, has everything lead, animated, produced, and even more by just one person: the creator. There's people with enough passion to do what teams of hundreds do, just by themselves. Because they want to.

I one day aspire to expand its production to the likes of the aforementioned studios, but only time will tell if that goal will get met. Regardless, I'm going to keep going. My goal is to get a show made, and my eagerness to see it all in full one day is what drives me.

Does any of that sound messy? Unprofessional even?

It does!

And that's ok!

Indie is not the industry.

Indie is independence, and breaking free from the norm. Don't let anyone tell you what you can and can't do. Let your passion and love for your craft drive you

I believe the best creators write and tell stories from the heart.

Not everything will look perfect, but our love for what we do is evident in everything we create, and our eagerness for the future accomplishes more than we think. That's what indie means to me.

I've been through a lot as a creator. And I'm far from meeting my goal. But the world will be ready for what I have to offer some day, and same for whoever this thread resonates with.

Until then, let's support our colleagues and let our creations guide us.

[pinksilvace]

Fern guides their mutuals and followers through Cats 1998 as if we're all sitting on the same couch watching it and I'm shouting out stuff (4/?)

MASTERPOST

Character Wiki Pages

On to Bustopher!

8: Bustopher Jones

Everybody is SO MEAN about Bustopher Jones (joking). I love him so much but nowadays when numbers are cut his is usually one of them since he usually shows up once and disappears 🥲

The actor for Bustopher sometimes dons a chorus costume for the opening number, often named Peter. They're also usually the actor who plays Gus later, as both Bustopher and Gus traditionally had operatic moments in the show.

Tom Hooper clearly did not know how to interpret media because could you IMAGINE 2019 Bustopher cleaning up his appearance as a first impression???

When I was little, I was under the impression that Bombalurina, Jenny, and Jellylorum all liked Bustopher Jones in similar ways; it wasn't until I started interacting with the fandom on here that I learned how some people interpret Bombalurina as being completely sarcastic in this song. Art's always up to interpretation, of course, and that's the fun of it, but I never really got that impression, even with Rosemarie Ford's eye rolls. To me, this moment shows Bombalurina as a character that can show others respect. It also cements her as being at the older end of the "not-old" adults.

This is YET ANOTHER song that is PERFECT for examining whatever Pouncival is getting up to at a given moment. I am once again saying that the Pouncival cut in this show is the most fun

Subsequently, this is also the "Skimbleshanks is three wrong moves away from a panic attack" song, which to me means that he respects Bustopher just as much as Jenny does. I like to think that they grew up together.

(For an incredibly anxious Skimble, here's Boston 2007; skip to 28:30):

(While I'm at it, there's this part in Moscow 2005 when the boys are all lined up like they're going to take a family photo, and I think it's very silly and cute; skip to 27:45)

Have you ever watched Cats (1998) and wondered who that cat that's really excited to see Bustopher is? That's George. The George Cut (TM) is probably my second favorite version of '98, after The Pouncival Cut (TM).

No doubt, you'll notice the number of Mistoffelees & Bustopher moments in this number. This is probably where the most popular headcanon about Bustopher originates: lots of us like to think he's an uncle, usually in conjunction with monochromatic siblings (Misto & Victoria & sometimes Alonzo)(Alonzo is like. Y as a vowel). I've also seen some folks frame him as Misto's dad, and in those cases, Misto is usually an only child.

Slightly off-topic, but my friend @thepineconelord likes to think of Mistoffelees as butler-core, and I think they're especially correct in this number.

(Yet another side note: the monochromatic siblings staging is a bit stronger in post-US Revival choreography, especially between Alonzo and Misto. Head to 30:00)(<- pretending to see things that supports the tunnel vision)

(Is it obvious yet that I've watched this number, specifically, many times?)

Okay I only just noticed this one but WHAT is up with Plato in this part. This picture doesn't do nearly enough justice to his posing but. My dude are you okay??? He was built to have an arm slung over the back of a park bench and instead he's here and forced to harmonize

The rare moment when Mistoffelees is peeved by Pouncival (and the altogether common moment where Munkustrap is also peeved by Pouncival)

One incredibly interesting thing about this number is that it's one of the most gendered numbers in the whole show, speaking from a choreography standpoint. When I was younger, I thought it came from a position of "all of the girls have crushes so they're all fangirling together," but that's not true. Only Jenny is shown to have a crush, and Coricopat, George, and Skimbleshanks could all very easily start fanboy-ing with them.

What is it, then? Is it because Bustopher presents as a much more "traditional" character than the rest? Do the things they're describing about him ascribe to him a certain level of masculinity that he can only share with the boys? Are these formations all part of some sort of militaristic protocol? Leading from that, is his appearance at the Ball (and approval) a right of passage thing for the boys? It's not something I've really seen anybody touch on, which is odd to me, because Cats in general tends to have interesting messages re: gender roles, especially with Mistoffelees, who obviously shares some sort of close connection with Bustopher! GILLIAN LYNNE REVEAL YOUR SECRETS

The cats know what golf is. Either that, or Bustopher saw a rich person play it, decided to copy them, and everybody else is amazed for his benefit.

[divergent-paths]

I just went on DA to find you (and read all the lato league stuff, younger Alex was a really cute kid) and I was wondering, is there more stuff about Alex than just the lato league comics? It felt like the last one had a lot of references to things I didn't know so I'm curious. Is there maybe a story about how he got the scar? Or will it come up later? (In that case I'm not asking for spoilers btw)(I'm just really curious, the lato league stuff was fun) (wait is Alex in someone else's lato league stuff too then? Gtg check, bye)

Alex doesn't like answering questions about the scar, so have a cameo from Franz & Fubuki (Gramps & Aunt Fuu as Alex usually refers to them), who still seem to feel guilty about it years later lmao

It's another long ramble for this ask, so it's all below the cut~ The tldr is that there is more stuff I've done/drawn, but it's focused on the adults related to Alex, rather than on him directly. The one other story he was witness to (Frostsmitten) is incomplete because of a 1-2 punch depression-burnout combo, but I am looking to work more on it again this year finally.

As for prior stories, Alex is young enough that he's only been the star of one adventure, which was Lato, but there's a number of adults in his life who have been through many crazy shenanigans and he was brought along for grampa's crazy new year's romance in the snow (Frostsmitten), and the planned follow-up (FS2: Freezer Burn). But! While I am currently teasing about old references and such, anything in Divergent Paths that becomes necessary info *will* be explained when the time is right for the story. I like to tease things out to allow people to theorise on the story as they read, but I know eventually you've gotta' come out with a straight answer and that's best done when it finally means something to the characters. So we'll get there!

As for reading the story I mentioned above, well, haaaahhh... It's a tale as old as time. Depression+Burnout destroyed me, and last year (2023) was really the first time in years that I felt any semblance of my old energy, and it's still in process of working back up to those old levels. Frostsmitten (link here) is about 80% done/uploaded, and Freezer Burn has its concepts and timeline done, but no pages drafted yet.

So where does that leave us nowadays... Well, last year I was actually touching the old pages that remained to be finished and chipping away at them when the mood struck me, and I think I'm up to moving along that story this year between posts here on the tumbles. Definitely no schedule though, absolutely no promises, certainly no guarantees. I only end up embarrassing myself and disappointing people when I say 'it'll be out on xx date!' :'D

Anyways, I've rambled on long enough I think :'D Thank you for the interest in my other works, I really do appreciate it. It's not an exaggeration to say that everyone's comments, compliments and excitement is giving me life here. <3

[artistic-izzy-multifandom]

Izzy's Heavily Improvised Essay on Bambi 2

(to folks who follow me for other stuff, I apologize right ahead of time, just doing my "multifandom" name justice XD)

Okay y’all, bear with me, this was written in the heat of the moment and therefore I might go around in tangents. I’ve been dying to write this essay thingy for months actually, but I kept chickening out when I went to try and just do it. And it was also inspired by Wreckham’s own Bambi post that I saw a while ago, so uh... Yeah.

(also this mainly features my opinions, don't take them as facts >_<)

So, starting things off with this:

It shall be no secret that I’m an avid fan of the Bambi movies (more the second than the first, but we’ll get to that in a bit). 

It’s no surprise that visually speaking, Bambi is a spectacle from beginning to end, on top of having a beautiful soundtrack and a fascinating way of being the closest thing to an animated documentary with its environments.

However, it comes with the price of... Well, lacking a concrete plot. And by that I mean outside of just showcasing Bambi’s life from birth to adulthood. Not to say there’s no value in that, but I reckon it’s not the kind of movie lots of people nowadays would just want to watch multiple times in a row.

(plus considering how much of the novel’s plot they cut out when adapting it to the screens… That’s a can of worms for another day)

Yes, even I, the avid fan, will admit this flaw in the storytelling. And it’s a big reason why I maintain my statement on loving the second movie more than the first.

And oh where do I begin?

Namely how its plot is basically about the time that happened between Bambi’s Mother’s death and the scene with all those cheery singing birds — in other words, the period in which Bambi was raised by his father, the Great Prince of the Forest.

While animation’s changed significantly (given that, y’know, 64 years apart) and also different voice actors were hired for the characters (again, 64 years), I will come here and say that visually the movie did the original justice, and did it in spades!

Plot-wise? On one hand, there’s more dialogue and the humor is a bit more targeted for younger audiences, which in fairness will put off some who are more inclined towards the original.

On the other hand, the movie is also not afraid to explore some darker subjects, some indirectly (like the whole aspect of grief both for Bambi and his father and their respective ways of dealing with it), and some directly (such as the entire Deer Call scene).

And the fact that unlike the first movie, the characters here are more fleshed out, the main highlight of that is none other than the Great Prince himself; in the first movie he... Didn’t have nearly enough screentime or lines to justify his status as protector of the Forest, at best he was a minor character given too much importance, and at worst he was a living prop.

In the second? He’s the second main focus of the story, with a whole character development arc on how to be a father to Bambi despite his belief in tradition (aka the whole “the does care for the young” thing). In fact, I think I should dedicate this part of the essay on his character, shall we? Because years of rewatching the movie made me think a lot of things regarding him (which I don’t see many or even anyone talk enough about):

If we’re gonna think about it, we never really get to know the Great Prince too deeply prior to his mate’s death. Everything we do know about him personality-wise came afterwards, at a time when he had to look after Bambi while also looking after the Forest as a whole.

It’s incredibly easy to label him as a jerk and a deadbeat father when one fails to consider a few things:

1- His mate died, and given the timeframe, the Prince was unable to reach both her and Bambi in time before Man shot her; made worse when you remember that in the first movie he was able to save them both from Man. Literally, at the beginning of the second movie, one of the first expressions we see from him is sadness. Wouldn’t you think he was feeling not just grief, but guilt too?

2- He was left to raise his son alone, at one of the harshest points of wintertime, and only asked Friend Owl to find a doe because the owl offered some help in the first place; recalling the tradition thing, the Prince had no experience with children whatsoever, can you blame him for being baffled at the idea of him raising his son at first?

3- He’s the protector of a whole forest. That’s like, hundreds and hundreds of lives he’s dedicated to keep safe from Man at all times every single day, hundreds and hundreds of animals depending on him to not get shot. Even if he’s experienced at what he does, that’s still a huge pressure onto a single individual, and the fact that he can’t always save everyone every time Man is in the woods.

And a bonus: forget his status as the Great Prince of the Forest for a moment, and what do you have? A stag who lost his mate (whom he genuinely loved) and is left to raise their son entirely on his own.

If I were to guess, I’d say the Great Prince was far more serene prior to the tragedy; still a recluse, what with being the protector of the woods and then some, but less stern in general.

Everything we see of him before the completion of his character development, is him trying to make do with something that was out of his control and dealing with its consequences. (there’s a reason why ‘Parents as People’ is a trope, y’know)

Hell, it was all but stated that even before he became more open towards Bambi and embraced his role as a parent, he already cared about his son in his own way. I’m under the belief that he’s always been capable of raising him, all he needed was some time (and a bit of a nudge from Bambi himself at points).

Plus he was already regretting the whole “new mother to Bambi” plan and intending on calling it off by the time Friend Owl brought Mena, he only went through with it anyway because he thought he screwed things up with Bambi for good - btw I do not blame Bambi for being mad, poor guy’s spent most of the movie trying to impress his dad and taking every lesson to heart, only to find out about the arrangement at the worst time possible.

On another tangent, I feel like one aspect that’s often overlooked is how both Bambi and his father reacted to going through with the arrangement:

By the time Bambi was going to leave with Mena, he wasn’t even mad anymore, just downtrodden and upset that he wouldn’t get to see his friends as often, but otherwise resigned and accepting that it’s what he should be doing. Putting up a brave facade all the while, much like the Great Prince himself.

Same for the latter, he was trying to keep his regal facade up as well and insisting that “a Prince does sacrifices” - he was mostly talking about himself, having to give his son up so he’s raised by someone better than the Prince.

And let’s get one fact clear before heading to a main point in this essay: although Bambi did get mad at his father (down to even wishing his mother was there instead of him), he was far more upset at being separated from him and not getting to see him as often, and it’s made obvious he regretted yelling those words at his father.

Otherwise, Bambi wouldn’t have rushed back to nuzzle him goodbye, wouldn’t have thought of retaliating against Ronno when the latter taunted him about being “given away” due to his father “being ashamed of him”. And he certainly wouldn’t have run to another cliff to meet his dad after defeating the last of Man’s dogs.

In fact I more than believe that they would’ve reconciled on the spot as soon as they saw each other again, which was what likely gonna happen after Bambi saved Mena and got rid of all the dogs.

But then the cliff scene happened.

(aka one of my favorite scenes in the whole movie, and yes I will defend it right now)

Now, I can see why a good bunch of people hate that scene (namely the whole Disney Death thing), but allow me to say that it’s in the movie for a reason, and it’s not to trick the audience into thinking Bambi did die from the fall.

It’s to showcase the Great Prince’s character arc coming to fruition.

Remember when I said that the Prince did love Bambi in his own way despite not knowing anything about raising children? This is the scene where he finally realized just how much he did care all along, shedding away his “prince does/does not” mentality for good. Realizing that Bambi needed him as a father

There's so much that goes unsaid in the scene.

How the Prince’s voice nearly breaks when urging Bambi to get up, him saying “A Prince does not...” but never finishing it. What was he going to say? We don’t know, and that’s the point. Maybe even he didn’t know, maybe it was said out of reflex.

How he gets down and looks at his (seemingly) dead son before nuzzling him, keeping him as close as he could, and crying.

This all makes it more meaningful when Bambi does wake up and calls him Dad for the first time, showcasing how far their bond has gone and developed.

I believe, among other things, that the scene (and perhaps counting the dog chase as well) was also meant to be a mirror/parallel to the dream sequence from earlier in the movie. But that’s perhaps an essay for another day!

So, in conclusion… I swear I’m 100% normal about this movie, I totally did not spend days on end trying to make this improv essay as cohesive as possible-

[essay ends here, roll credits]

[capn-rikshu]

<Thoughts on previous reblog

No disrespect to OP but the tonal shift/inconsistency might've shaken them to lead to that critique. I see some of what they were getting at but I never had a feeling that the show was saying that 'now that Robbie and Mo have powers, they must be responsible for every adult around them'. That's a bit extreme to me. And ESPECIALLY their thoughts on the violence of the show.

(It's a long read)

Jawbreaker has been remarked on before on not really understanding social cues at times which leads to him roughhousing with Grimlock and causing him to have an outburst. It's neither of their fault in that situation, if anyone I would blame Elita for not pulling Jawbreaker aside and explaining him Grimlock's situation. She did practically benched Jawbreaker aside for he 'could cause more trouble' before running off to stop Grimlock with Hashtag. When JB said 'it's all my fault', she said 'we'll discuss this later'. I don't blame her, it was a time tight situation, but JB may take those words too much to heart; he really does blame himself for Grimlock's rampage. Maybe there could've been a scene where Elita ACTUALLY discussed what happened with Jawbreaker, maybe apologize and tell him that it wasn't his fault but the episode ends abruptly. Maybe there WAS a scene like that somewhere in the drafts but we all know that TFE has a lot of cut content. I would criticize that aspect.

BUT nowhere else did I ever feel that the kids have a responsibility for the adults around them or how they effect them. Earthspark is sort of a 'chosen one' narrative, Quintus Prime CHOSE Mo and Robby to be the legacy of hope of the Terrans. He gave them powers to fight alongside their Terran siblings.

It's more of a kid's power fantasy than anything saying 'kids should have responsibility for the adults around them', which leads me into critiquing OP's critique of the darkness and mature themes of the show.

Again, no disrespect but I don't think OP understands how kids that age (8-15 as OP has stated to be the likely demographic) actually act like and what their likes and dislikes gravitate to. They don't understand that kids those age are going to be curious and contemplating morbid and mature topics. As they get older they'd want to been seen less as kids and more like mature adults (even though they aren't). So they will naturally be more interested in more darker/mature topics; specifically violence, mental health issues, tame gore, but nothing extremely disturbing or traumatising. The problem is that with the internet they may actually come across actually exploitive, psyche damaging stuff. With TV networks there are at least guidelines and mandates that are harder to slip through than, say, something like Youtube. (All those creepy elsagate stuff). They need a safe environment to explore those thoughts.

I was a Warrior Cats kid and anyone in that fandom knew that those books could be violent AF, same can be said about Wings of Fire (unlike Warriors I don't think it ever had a scene where a cat/dragon had their stomach cut open, WoF did have a dragon have her face burnt off with acid). Majority of those fandoms are comprised of kids less than 16 years of age, Warriors had so many fanart by CHILDREN illustrating the cats sometimes brutal deaths.

My point being, if you think most kids in between those ages are going to be traumatised by what they see on a RESTRICTIVE cable network, where they can censor many things (a lot harmless things e.g same sex couples) there is a good chance you may not fully understand children. [I'm not saying that it is impossible that they won't get traumatised by something but I'm saying that it would be extremely unlikely especially nowadays]

Unlike books, where you can only imagine how bad things are, a more visual medium like cartoons have less to the imagination. Let's take a look at the violence in Earthspark shall we?

On level of violence I'd say... it is on level of TF Prime AT TIMES. TFP was pretty consistent with its violence, it shown its characters BLEEDING, from the mouth, from wounds on the Cybertronian character. Meanwhile, I'd say the most bleeding we got from Earthspark characters was from Megatron's arm, from some covered shoulder panel. You could count Brawl dripping blood on the floor but it happens offscreen, I recall. I don't think Earthspark ever shows a Transformer bleed from any wound, or even really show any battle damage except from Bumblebee's arms and Twitch and Thrash in the finale.

The finale is the only thing I'd say could be seen as 'EXTREMELY violent', the stakes were fucking off the charts in those episodes. I see the tone clash critique from a lot people coming from there, some people also say it was rushed. By extremely violent I mean: human death (rip edgy elsa gets evaporated), Twitch getting her head repeatedly bashed against the floor by Mandroid, Nightshade getting stabbed (it is covered by a convenient camera angle and it is revealed to be an illusion), those are the extremes I remember from that episode. But those are MOSTLY ONLY EXCLUSIVE TO THE TRANSFORMERS CHARACTERS. Most violence happens to them. Human characters are harmed but it is not as horrific as how OP describes it '-children cry, they scream, they get bruised, their parents wail when they see them in danger', that makes this show sound so much more mature than it actually is, it's manipulative. There have never been any cuts or bruises ever shown on any of the human models, there are also no scenes in which I recall being extremely distressing.

I really think that the high stakes, barely seen before violence, shift in tone caused OP to go on that tirade. The clash of the finale compared to the season before gave them and many people a whiplash of what they used to perceive the show to be. People were not used to this kind of high stakes and violence in the show before the finale. I'll critique it for that - inconsistency.

One more nit-pick, this line: "1. Steven Universe really ruined a generation of children’s media by making showrunners think they had to tackle issues like PTSD and trauma."

It's completely false. I don't think OP has the knowledge of the trends in cartoons today and from before. So little network cartoons are like Steven Universe, flip on Cartoon Network, look what's playing on the telly: 'The Amazing World of Gumball', 'Total DramaRama', 'We Baby Bears'. Even on Nickelodeon: 'The Loud House', 'Spongebob', 'Monster High'. (Nickelodeon don't air cartoons often except Spongebob or The Loud House, really💀). Remember Powerpuff Girls actually having blood in its intro? Remember how the reboot sanitised everything? How they removed even the breasts on some of the female characters designs (God forbid cartoony exaggeration of female anatomy/s).

It is entirely unfair to blame Steven Universe for a supposed trend of cartoons tackling mature and dark subjects. People must remember the trend of the action cartoon back in 2000s to early 2010s: 'Teen Titans', 'Max Steel', 'Scooby Doo Mystery Inc.(not necessarily action but it was mature at times)', 'Slugterra', even 'Transformers: Prime'. Those cartoons could sometimes get "dark". But people love to use Steven Universe as the 'blame for all' because its comedic, dark tone, and tackled mature themes. Neither Earthspark nor Steven Universe, as I recall, go in depth about trauma and mental health issues. Earthspark is pretty surface level in that regard, there is no backbone. I hope for proper exploration of themes in season 2.

I think I'll end it here for now.

[No hate, if OP reads this, once more, no disrespect. I just disagree with your take.]