#why is it assumed animated movies are made with only kids in mind

[takeaguessbuddy]

why do so many people think animation is made specifically for little kids and why am i not allowed to talk about it :(

[teeramoonlover]

This got me thinking.

Billy Loomis, Stu Macher/William Afton, and Bo Sinclair as they grew older, at some point they need someone from their own flesh and blood to continue their legacy, right?

So yeah those three gonna build one big happy family with reader, and their kids gonna be a bunch of satan's spawn but only being lovely to their own mom/dad/guardian.

And ofc in this case, those three lovely slashers ain't dead in these scenario.

Billy Loomis

As we all know, Samantha Carpenter is the infamous daughter of Billy Loomis. But what if Billy Loomis actually have another kid from the reader? I'm gonna assume this guy gonna be his son.

(My pov) His son definitely will hunt and kill the Ghostface, who dare to be like his dad. In his mind, he was like 'my dad and his friend are the only Ghostface, no one's gotta be like him. And it will stay that way'. So to ease his bloodlust, instead of killing innocents, why not just kill these Ghostface rookies. It's like they're asking for it, didn't they?

Not surprised to see he loves horror movies, maybe get inspiration from crime documentaries. High chance he is the mastermind and have many ways to lure those new Ghostface to him. Tempting to torture them like John Kramer did to his victims.

Oh and if his dad has mommy issue, bro got a whole daddy issues coming in. Like father, like son

Cast (Son): Benjamin Wadsworth

Born: 1997

Stu Macher/William Afton

If Stu Macher had a kid, ya bet his children gonna be a goofball like him? Wrong. In fact (from my pov), his son gonna double up from Stu's inner psychotic tendency in him. More aggressive, more violent and more unhinged. His son knew to embrace madness.

If Stu Macher become a killer because of peer pressure, this kid just pure psycho. Instead of being a friendly social butterfly or party king like his dad, he's the appitome of school's bad boy type of thing. It's either being mean or meanest.

Don't let me start on him becoming Micheal Afton.

If he gets proper love from his mom/guardian, he gonna be a big softie and overprotective (possessive) to his love ones. Gonna be hella toxic. He can be good, only with his mom/guardian, but to someone else? Rarely occasion.

Cast (Son): Drew Starkey

Born: 1996

Bo Sinclair

Ok first of all we all know, BO SINCLAIR IS A BEAST IN BED (rip reader's cunt/rim hole) and when he knew reader is pregnant, he was worried he might not be a good father figure to his kid until their first child born. Things change. Seeing his son's big blue eyes, like him, stir something in him. The Sinclair Jr made him soft. So ofc, Bo becomes bold and wants another child cuz he doesn't want his son to be lonely.

It's to be expected. To be apart of the Sinclair, they would eventually have twins sooner or later. Thank god both their son's head still intact in one piece. On the other hand, his three sons grew handsomely and receive motherly love from the reader.

The eldest, have a nasty tempered like his dad. You got on his way, he'll beat the shit out of you. He only be really nice to someone he care most, like his mama dearest. Always goes to church with his dad to see his grandma and help him in the garage.

The twins - The first twin (middle child) definitely got the charm from his dad. Knows how to be a sweetheart to ladies, but can be deadly once he hunt them for his uncle's sculpture. Most likely helping Vincent to build the museum. Might as well make an art museum next door too.

The second gonna be a rebellion, daredevil (youngest child) Well, not like strapping him to the chair. No no, mama won't like that. He loves adventure so definitely follow uncle Lester from town to town. He likes hunting, depends whether the prey will be animals or people. He can be nice. Charming too. Gonna be good friends with Stu's son, probably.

Cast (Sons): Eldest - Bill Skarsgård, Middle - Harris Dickinson, Youngest - Rudeth Pankow

Born: Eldest - 1994, Twins - 1996

Yep, one big chaotic, happy family indeed.

[tossawary]

A handful of random thoughts about the "Ultraman: Rising", with some vague, marked spoilers here and there:

I like the fact that they didn't explain kaijus or where Ultraman came from. After so many superhero origin stories where we have to be slowly introduced to the existence of the supernatural, it's refreshing to get dropped in the middle of a "second-gen" (unclear how many generations of Ultramen exist in this universe so far) superhero's story. The movie isn't apologizing for its genre or its premise. It just goes, "Yeah, you know what a superhero is and what a kaiju is, so let's go already. No, we're not even really going to explain how Ultraman's powers work. That's not what this is about!!! It it about our protagonist's daddy issues!!! Keep up!!!"

If I think about the world building, I do have some questions, like who built the protagonist's fancy tech house that's also a superhero base, but it's not too important. I assume his dad built it and then moved out to give his kid space? OR: "Why do the kaijus seem to attack this place specifically?" This movie works mostly because it's like "this is classic superhero stuff and we're just not dwelling on the logistical setup too much"! It leaves you to fill in some blanks on your own or just suspend your disbelief, which works.

The pacing was a little weird in places and the movie does get a little ridiculous in parts, I'm never quite sure of what the capabilities of these characters are, but it's a superhero vs. kaiju animated movie and that's to be expected. I still enjoyed myself well enough.

A few of the character designs didn't super work for me, like the big-headed kid characters. The kaiju baby is maybe a little too cutesy, but she was very cute and I've forgiven them because they didn't shy away from babies being gross. (There is... A LOT of baby kaiju vomitting.)

I did really like some of the other character designs. I liked the protagonist's big nose and pierced ears and bangs falling in front of his sharp face; he looks like such a dirtbag pretty boy. I like the lean in the industry right now towards more stylized and geometric 3D character designs in general, because I think that the shapes are fun and they'll age better this way.

Dirtbag guy to single dad is a winning story formula, huh.

They did a lot of 2D-style effects in this movie that I thought looked fun. I dig that trend in the industry right now as well. Some of the scenes were a little clean, almost bare, in terms of environmental design, but the colors generally looked great. Some of the scenes were really bright and vibrant and pretty.

(Mild vague spoiler?) There's no romance in this movie, which was surprising when they definitely set up a female journalist in the position for a love interest. No, it's a "strangers to friendly acquaintances" relationship for them. The female journalist is also a single mother, which was interesting, because you don't get a whole lot of career-minded single mother love interests in animated movies.

(Unimportant spoiler:) She told the protagonist to his face that she thinks he has daddy issues. Not stated quite like that, of course, but it was pretty funny. She was also right about that.

The emotional focus in this film was instead about the protagonist, Kenji, repairing his relationship with his father and also taking care of the kaiju baby. Kenji's only friend and co-parent for a chunk of the movie is an AI assistant (Mina) his parents made.

(Unimportant spoiler:) Stumped by an issue, Kenji makes a frustrated comment about how maybe he should ask Siri instead. Shortly after, in response to a different statement, the AI assistant Mina makes a passive-aggressive comment about how maybe he should ask Siri instead. I found that pretty funny.

(Mild spoiler:) Ultraman in this universe is a known and popular superhero and has been for decades. At one point, the baby kaiju gets out into the city, and Kenji has to go get her before she gets hurt or hurts someone else, and he publicly tells her to "Come to Daddy." And this is overheard by a bunch of nearby civilians, who gasp loudly. It is quite funny. It doesn't really come up again, but even if that wasn't recorded, you just KNOW that the news and the internet went wild over that revelation. "Ultraman had a baby with Gigantron???!!!"

(Another mild spoiler:) At one point, Kenji asks the female journalist for some parenting advice, and she IMMEDIATELY asks him if he has a secret love child. (No one is quite sure why this baseball star suddenly came back to Japan from the U.S., as they don't know he's Ultraman.) Kenji denies it, but I'm pretty sure that she must still think that he does.

(Continuing:) Kenji's baby kaiju parenting struggles (along with his ego) are fucking up his baseball career, due to stress and lack of sleep and conflicting commitments. We aren't shown a lot of interactions with his team, but I desperately hope that he also asked a couple of his teammates for parenting advice or something, so that his team could also immediately assume that he has a secret love child.

Like, "Yeah, yeah, Kenji Sato's secret love child, we all know about it. The poor kid is really bad at hiding it. We're trying to keep it hidden from journalists for him, but the whole team knows he's a new dad, for sure." (They do not know that Kenji is Ultraman and the baby is a kaiju.)

All in all: this movie was fun! Very silly, but cute! I think that I might try to pick some other "Ultraman" shows or films out of the dozens that exist, and try some of those ones out. The property seems to exist in a similar vein as "Transformers" where Rule of Cool rules world building and canon is whatever the newest iteration wants it to be.

[butch-bakugo]

Proshippers: omg why can't antis just leave us alone! 🙄 Don't like don't read! Cultivate your online experience!

Antis: ok. * Mass blocks you* *puts you on our DNIs * * Ignores you*

Proshippers: Wait no! I sustain myself on complaining about you! My identity is only based on how " weird" I am! You guys aren't even complaining about me making graphics harassing you guys telling you your assault was actually your fault! How can I complain about harassment and bullying when you guys don't harass or bully me! You won't even respond when I screenshot your posts and laugh at you? When I complain about the concepts of a dni because most exclude me?? Don't you get it! We're the real victims! Somehow your a puritan and a bigot and a Christian for not liking my art of two siblings fucking each other and drawing porn of an underage live action character using the likeness of the child actor who played them! Don't you understand?

I only exist as counter culture and you guys have to keep up our fight! If you disappear I'm just a sad weirdo! You can't just block me out and ignore me like I've been asking you to! Hello??? I only exist on twitter, Tumblr and Ao3 where my creepy rape mindset is normalized by other Nazis and Openly pedofil-i mean radqueers and paraphiles! If you guys let me fall into obscurity than how can I sustain myself! How will I exist in my mind as a cool nerd who fights censorship if you guys don't censor me and just let my art fail with zero engagement??

What do you mean I spend more time drawing porn of kids and defending my right to do so on the internet than actually getting the therapy I need to stop drawing sim cp period? What do you mean therapists in mass discourage fictional cp cause it often leads to offending and there's tons of documents and resources proving that available with a simple google search?? What do you mean my art isnt coping because its used to groom others and continue the cycle of violence because I make no attempt at hiding my art or content from children period but especially those in broken homes who assume its ok because my content aligns with their real abusive experiences?? What do you mean I became the villian and creep who caused me real harm and 32 year old women thirsting after teenage boys on the Internet are not the revered fandom elders i was told i should become? What do you mean I'm the type of fan no one likes and constantly has to bring up so other's know they arnt like me? What do you mean we've fostered a community that actively harms victims of abuse and children en masse and normalized it so much I'm completely tone deaf by sending traumatizing incest fanfiction to my friends? Arnt they the real abusers by not letting me retrumatize them over and over again and claim their silencing me because I cant send links to rape porn in their discord server??

What do you mean I can't compare my fetishization of sex crimes to fans of horror movies cause it's a false equivalency and only my contribution is condoning the violence by painting it as sexy and desirable and my tiny disclaimer at the bottom basically means nothing when everything else I say isnt aligned with it?? What do you mean I show my true colors when I'm faced with the reality the only people who benefit from my fictional cp are pedophiles?? What do you mean rape victims don't like it when I portray rape as some sexy coercion and I know I'm wrong simply by the fact I try to hide the real word for what I'm writing/drawling under inconspicuous shit I made up like non-con and dub-con??

I'm supposed to be the victim, not you!! I'm the real victim! Your a bully for ignoring me and blocking me! This is clearly harassment! You clearly hate gay people because you don't like my gay pedo incest art with no actual sensitivity and I exclusively made it to jerk off to and not catch a felony or address my own rotting morality by justifying my wank to child porn drawn in an anime art style because they are fictional and not real! I know I recently identified also as a paraphile and a ficto-zoonecrosomnopedo but not everyone who likes my realistic porn of animals and children also clearly have my mental illnesses that are going completely unchecked! I'm the victim in all this, don't you know! I'm the victim!!!

[master-of-stupidity]

Fuck it gonna put all my Tangled rants into a single thread that I'll just continue on if needed-

Oldest to newest btww (also spoilers most of these r about Eugene btw ik ik I'm a lil autistic spare me 💀)

That one part of Bruno is Orange but Eugene coded-

"Did you hear about that Father

Sent his own infant son away

And said "It's to *dangerous* for

you to stay so, I had to *save* you" "

I may be cringe but I am FREE

Yo omg ok so my brother is singin a Into the Woods song while I look at Tangled stuff n it made me remember a scene from the play where Gothel yells at the Prince "Rapunzel can think for herself!" n like- dude Cass said the same thing in Cassandra's Revenge to Eugene! Ooo girlll-

The way I would kill so many ppl if it meant getting a series about Lance n Eugene as kids like broooo imagineee-

Its crazy how like I'll be enjoying my day than suddenly I'll see a post of a mf going "Hey what if Eugene thought he was a yr younger cuz he was like a rlly scrawny kid?" Yeah ok sure n what if I hit u with a *metal pole*

My tangled ocs r so random its hilarious- like it goes from a bodyguard,a greedy businessman,a ringleader,n than that one serial killer who turns ppl into meat pies like how did we get here???? 😭🙏

I just remembered like just a few days ago my brother randomly said "vase" while playing Fortnite n my ass just said "vAHse" just to fck w/ him n like that kinda reminded me of that one scene of Eugene n Cass like damn they were sibling coded frrr lmao I miss em

Wdym there was a scrapped Eugene n Lance childhood episode??🧍And WDYM it's literally everything I ever wished for and more???????? 😃

Would love to see Eugene n Martin Kratt interact solely to see Martin be appalled n slowly lose his mind over how Eugene knows jackshit about animals 💀🙏

I think the Eugene genderbends look so weird to me because none of them kept the infamous goatee like cmon man don't be a coward give that girl some facial hair 🗣🗣

I should not be relating Heather's music to scenes from Tangled the Series yet here we r 😭

Omggg thinking about how Eugene proposing to Rapunzel in tts came from his abandonment issues n him literally not being able to see a life without Rapunzel omgg shut upppp leave me ALONEEE

Literally despise with every fiber of my being how the writers of the shitty Wreck it Ralph 2 movie had fcking RAPUNZEL of all ppl say "Do ppl assume all ur problems were solved just because a big strong man showed up?" They fcking HATEE the movie Tangled *so much* bro istggg

OMFG THE VOICE OF KING FREDRIC FROM TANGLED IS MR. FCKING KRABS WHAT?????

The way I wanna be bold n talk more about the "Over the Corona Walls" ep- esp about Staylan n Eugene n all the icky implications of that but I'm also so scared too cuz I fear ppl won't take me seriously or think I'm overanalyzing too much 😭🙏

Lowkey not over the fact Eugene was willing to trap himself back in an abusive relationship, "leaving" the one person he HAS died for n would die for again, all to save his best friend like bro don't TALK TO MEEEE

As u can tell I am totally normal n not at all ill about Eugene or this show 😁

What if I gave Eugene like- slight wedding trauma after the whole "Beyond the Corona Walls" incident??? I think it'd be kinda cool n in character ngll 🤭🤭

No but that prompt for the unaired Lance n Eugene episode STILL makes me so fcking ill bro stg can't STAND those mfss bro 😭😭

"And if I gave up on being *pretty* I wouldn't know how to be ALIVE" is SO Eugene coded idc idc idccccc

You think if I put Eugene Fitzherbert in The Amazing Digital Circus he'd be a walking dumpster fire considering he needs an identity to function n in TADC u like- quite literally don't have one??? 💀

Was listening to an audio last night n now I kinda wish we knew like- what Eugene's mom was actually *like* in a way considering I don't think her character was ever explored :((

Why is this plushie literally Eugene Fitzherbert omgg I want it nowwww

To the ppl who only see others as their pfps lowkey rlly hope y'all just see me as jester Eugene Fitzherbert cuz that'd be rlly funny n I'd love that 💀🙏 like yes I truly am just Eugene in a jester fit yappin my ass off on twitter dot com LMFAOOO (btw follow me @/theratbatjester)

[snufflepup]

Personally, I love stuff like chainsaw man, bungou stray dogs, the case study of vanitas, and the umbrella academy! I love things with pretty boys (probably why I like your blog~) I've seen heartstopper and tons of kill counts for horror movies though I've only seen a small handful of them, despite loving the horror genre to death. Idk what my biggest hyperfixation rn is, apart from nightcrawler from x-men apocalypse and max Dennison from the first hocus pocus movie. I've been so obsessed with him, I mean he's the cutest, second only to you, puppy~<3 I've also seen the end of the fucking world, which is just awesome and super cool! Though I wish there was more :P. I've had a huge interest in this show called total drama since I was 7 (17 now) and it was a roller coaster trying to remember that from my childhood. Though I saw why I loved it so much back then lol. It's basically like a cartoon version of survivor and it's just really cool! I recently watched a fan made series on YouTube by odd Nation cartoons, called disventure camp, and it's pretty neat. It has tons of cannon lgbtq characters, which I absolutely adore in shows. There's this one gay trans guy that literally looks like me and he's just ahhh! I love the things I watch a lot, perchance too much lol. No one irl ever wants to talk with me about this kind of stuff :<

-Ike<3

I've heard of those before ! I've watched a little bit of some of them, as well !! I keep meaning continue watching them, but I haven't yet. Are those your favourite animes ? If nkt, what are ? ^–^ I've also seen the first two seasons of the umbarella academy ! (｡>\\<) ! I've read all of heartstopper, and watched the first season ! I actually only found out there was more seasons recently !! I remember hearing about new seasons, but I just assumed they weren't out yet . but I'm pretty sure . that was a while ago, and I just have a bad sense of time . I've not seen that before, is it good ? aaa Me too, I feel like I haven't seen a lot either, despite liking them !! I've seen IT, the fear street movies and an escape room based one ?? I think there might be more, but these are the ones I remember the most ! It's a little funny, but the first time I watched the escape rooms one was the night before I was going on a flight, and I'm a little nervous of planes so I had watched it hoping it would take my mind off of it . and there was like . three plane crashes or something lmao . I think my biggest at the moment is Omori, Fairy Tail and Seraph of the End/Mikayuu ! I've only really been on the avengers side of marvel, I actually didn't even know X-men was marvel until a couple weeks ago. . . but ! I want to get into it, though, I'm not sure where to start ! so ! Where should I ? I don't think I've seen Hocus Pocus either, but I keep hearing good things about it. . . I'll definitely watch it now !! :D I've never heard of the end of the fucking world, what is it ?

I know total drama too !!! I know what happens because me and my sibling watched it together earlier this year, after getting really invested in the roblox game based on it ! My sibling got a lot more into it than I did, but I know the characters !! Cartoons I liked a lot as a kid, and still like, are gravity falls, mlp, winx. . . As well as other animated movies ! Winx club is supposed to be getting like, a re-make ? so I'm quite excited for that !! From what I've seen, it looks good !! I also like watching people play games, talk about games or other things in general ! A video I really liked a lot is someone talking about Omori on youtube titled 'I played Omori after I lost my daughter to suicide' it made me feel really emotional and cry a lot . I also love rewatching Slimecicle's 'We spent 100 days in a hardcore minecraft apocalypse' and minaxa's video on Lacy games !!

oooo ! It sounds very cool, I'll give it a watch !! I think it's really awesome that theres someone that looks just like you, too ! I understand how you feel, they make me really happy ⪩(ᐢᗜᐢ)⪨ ! I'm sorry people don't. . . I also don't have many people I can talk about it with so I can understand you

[dawnanddorisqna]

How do you two feel about Disney's recent "live-action" remakes? I mean I can safely assume you're not fans but could you be more specific?

I don’t mind some of them really. The ones that tell a new story are kinda fun for me. Like Cruella. And Doris is shaking her head at me so I’m going to keep talking out loud while I type. Seeing real actors do a new twist on something can be fun. It’s just when they tell the same story that I think it’s boring, and the CG characters rarely hit as well as the hand drawn ones. Those full on remakes that just rinse and repeat are not really allowed in this house. Only 90’s Lion King here. A movie like the Little Mermaid could be great with a new story. Go closer to the crazy dark story or something, but don’t just retread. And Doris is pacing and wanting to rant probably….so…I…won’t….take…..toooooooo….much…..time…to…

Thank you so much for this question, it’s something I do think of a lot. Now of course, remakes of animated properties isn’t anything new. It’s been something of an event for years, having major stars play live versions of animated characters. It never overshadowed the animated characters, and actually brought more attention to them, and Disney was at the forefront of this, producing live versions of classics.

Yes, This is a Disney produced film, and I enjoyed it.

It wasn’t until about the 1990s that they brought an adaptation to theaters based on one of their own films. The Jungle Book.

This was under the leadership of Michael Eisner, who would also see the studio create remakes of 101 Dalmatians. His protege Bob Igor would take these same practices and continue them once he became CEO. I was honestly fine with these remakes, mostly because they were telling new stories or a different perspective. That changed once Alice in Wonderland came out in 2010

This was a troubling film. Not for being a poor view in my opinion, but for being so successful. This film made a Billion at the box office. When something makes that much, that’s basically film now. It hit that mark and I saw a flood of remakes coming, and they did.

Animation has always had a difficult time in the minds of studio execs. They see it as for kids and rarely want to try anything new or invest in stories with it. Alice breaking the box office confirmed to them that live action and photo realistic is for kids AND adults. So why invest in what’s only for kids when they could also get the adults?

I really hate this form of thinking, because these films wouldn’t exist without the original animated version. That’s all they stand on. There’s a reason the Aladdin trailer has the cave of wonders and why the Lion King showed the circle of life. It’s all just nostalgia bait. No creativity, nothing new, just a checklist of familiar things. It’s lazy and unfortunate that it keeps bringing in so much money for the studios.

Like Dawn said, Some of these films do tell new stories, and I wish all went that route, but most are simply painting over films to retell the same story but with lifeless visuals.

Animation is so deeply undervalued, and this is a crime, as it’s one of the most heartfelt methods of storytelling. Every frame is cared for, characters becoming so expressive and visuals that can connect to any generation and grip your heart. It’s magic on film, and there’s now people in charge of this industry who couldn’t care less about it.

This was on full display at the 2022 Academy Awards (at really every Oscars, but this one is of note)

These ladies are lovely, but this was a low moment. Taking the time before the award to show a trailer for the live action little mermaid, having the host put down animation, and then the award presenters being 3 actresses who play live action versions of animated characters, the message was clear. This industry doesn’t care about animation, live action is what really matters.

There were apologies after this, but if you look at how Disney advertises their films, the live action remakes get the brunt of the advertising, animation gets the scraps. Where the 90s remakes were simply fun, we’re now in a full overdrive of them.

None of this should be a surprise. Studios go for whatever makes money and what seems easier, and these films have a formula they find very simple. Choose something people remember, get a popular actor, add CG and a lot of familiar scenes and watch the money flow in.

A real show of how greedy this system has become came in the same year as that Oscar display. A year Disney would take one of their most beloved films, one that was Walt’s favorite, one that became part of the theme of Disney and was considered untouchable…and they remade it.

The original Pinocchio didn’t perform well when it opened (due to a war breaking out on its premiere date). This was crushing for Walt, but when it was rereleased it found an audience and became a classic. This film has a lot of amazing effects with water, magic and references being used in a clever way. Ideas of a sequel or any continuation were always shut down because this was one of the special films of the studio. But as time went on, and the remakes proved wildly profitable, we were bound to see this care fade away and bring us what many of us feared.

Nothing is untouchable after this. And sure enough, we’ll soon be getting Bambi, Moana, Lilo and Stitch, the Aristocats and countless others. While on the animation front? Those are announced, like Wish, but not with the fervent need that the live action films are.

Now, do I hate the idea of live action remakes? Not really, but obviously there are things I wish they’d change. For one, I think it would be great if animated films were treated equally and given the same amount of attention by studios. If they were, I think we’d have another renaissance on our hands.

Second, STOP JUST TELLING THE SAME STORY! It’s all nostalgia references, and if the studio couldn’t plug in familiar songs, scenes and lines throughout, these films wouldn’t be made. But I think it would be far more rewarding to get a new experience with familiar characters. Tell us what happened years later, focus on a new character, or retell it and stick to the original story or let a director really put their stamp on it and create something different. Right now these films are amazingly dull with the same story and visuals that are pointlessly realistic. How do you remake something and take the life out of the characters and call it a feature!? If you don’t know how to show an animal with emotion (embarrassing, that’s animation 101. The directors should trust animation more), then find another way or just don’t do it.

Third, use these remakes as a vehicle to lift new artists. Give a new promising actor a chance to become the live face of this character. Let a new director show their style and start a career. These are guaranteed hits and it would be good to bring some new talent into the industry with it.

And last, limit yourself on these. With so many being rushed into live action remakes, I feel like Pixar films aren’t far behind. And now that Universal is getting into it by remaking Dreamwork’s How To Train Your Dragon, we seem to be on a path of over abundance. Wild, as we seem to already be there, but it’s getting worse.

I would much rather see a remake that takes a new path come out every few years, than the constant barrage we have now.

Thank you again for the question,

Doris.

[skaruresonic]

every once in a while my feed recommends thinkpieces on the Matrix films written by authors who miss the point of said films, so I guess it's time for yet another thrilling round of "watch the films"

Did. Did you see the part where Neo wakes up in his bed thinking the interrogation was just a dream. Because. Agents wiping people's memories is an established plot point.

Also, the Architect implies in Reloaded that most people plugged into the Matrix are aware deep down that they live in an artificial reality, but they agree to live in it at that near-subconscious level because they've been given the choice to accept or reject it. He says this was the most elegant solution the Oracle created to address the problem of people rejecting the dream world en masse. As long as people are made to believe they have a choice, even the illusion of choice will suffice. It paints a rather depressing portrait of humanity and its complacency, tbh.

---

No kidding.

The animated short detailing the history of the machines portrays scorching the sky as mankind's last-ditch effort to gain an advantage following a gruesome war. It wasn't something they approached lightly. Never mind the fact that mankind isn't exactly known for its long-term thinking and well-considered rationale in the face of terror (neither are the machines, for that matter; nuance whomst?). Morpheus furthermore claims that they don't know who struck first, machines or humans, but they do know humans "scorched the sky."

The original script specified the machines used human minds to boost the Matrix's processing power, but because that was a concept that would have flown over the audience's heads in the nineties, they changed it to "the machines harvest humans for energy."

---

To be fair, the sequels do take Morpheus somewhat to task for his dogma. His faith gets noticeably shaken by the events of Reloaded and Revolutions. Not everyone believes what he believes, but his beliefs do not require them to.

I won't argue that Morpheus is particularly righteous or even accurate most of the time, but I do think the notion that "anyone that hasn't been unplugged can turn into an Agent and kill you at any time" ought to be taken into account. Is it a little extreme that he calls every unplugged human "our enemy"? Yes. But… he kind of has good reason to, tbh. Agents can't exactly be reasoned with. The crew were fully prepared to pop a cap in Neo's ass "for [their] protection," as Trinity says, despite Morpheus' conviction that he was the man they were looking for.

---

Eh. Neo's muscle atrophy appears later, though I'm willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of having a hard-hitting scene. Watch less CinemaSins, it's good for you. ironically enough, The Matrix is the narrator's favorite movie. lol and lmao

"Furthermore, there's an unresolved issue of why the spider-like machine simply doesn't kill him (and every other revived human) as they wake up."

Because you can't kill something you think is a corpse.

The maintenance machine removed Neo's cables because it registered him as dead… as a result of Neo taking the red pill. Morpheus says taking the red pill disrupts a person's input/output signals, meaning the connection between one's RSI and body has been severed, something that only happens if a podbound human dies. The signal disruption allows the rebels to pinpoint Neo's exact location in the real world.

While you could argue this technique potentially harbors its fair share of flaws - one can only assume human batteries die every so often, so how would they be able to pick Neo out from the unattended dead? - asking why the machine didn't kill him tells me you weren't exactly paying attention.

Things get a little more complicated in Reloaded when the Architect implies that the machines do willingly let a small portion of humans go as a sort of pressure valve to prevent the Matrix from collapsing under its own critical mass. Even then, the first film provides a coherent enough explanation that we don't need Reloaded's. You're assuming the machine believes Neo is alive when clearly it doesn't. It sees him struggle, yes, but because the red pill makes Neo emit the machine equivalent of an ant's death pheromones, the bot goes "welp, another one bit the dust" and proceeds to flush the "corpse" down the drain.

---

People always act like this is some fresh new take.

Well. That's kinda the whole point of his betrayal. To make you wonder what you would do in his situation. It's all well and good to speculate on what-ifs from the comfort of the fourth wall, but the film frames an otherwise abstract moral quandary in very clear terms. Is a life of hedonistic bliss better than one where you are painfully aware of the artifice of reality and constantly fighting for your life? It's not an accident---you're meant to ponder the question.

The Matrix franchise approaches the concept of freedom from a nihilistic lens. Nihilism often gets strawmanned in movies (Smith's own views function as a mouthpiece for such edgelord flanderizations) as a defeatist attitude of "Nothing matters, so why bother living?" Rather, a more accurate portrayal of nihilism contends that, because nothing has intrinsic meaning, you are free to create your own meaning. That it is dangerous to chase meaning as defined by premade structures like religion or philosophy, because these will dictate your thinking and keep you under another's control. In so doing, you surrender your freedom to truly discover for yourself what it is that makes life worth living to you. And indeed, Neo transcends Morpheus' and the Oracle's understandings of the Matrix and what it means to be The One in order to walk his own path.

The films ask you, "If freedom felt more like prison, would it still be worth striving for? What is the value of a freedom where you stand to lose more than you gain? Does freedom have inherent value, or is it hailed because of what it represents as yet another variable within these multi-tiered systems of control?"

Tbf, Cypher's resentment towards Morpheus was more understandable in earlier drafts of the script, where it's stated that Cypher was freed from an extremely young age and Morpheus had actually wound up killing five previous candidates he'd assumed to be The One. Some speculate that Cypher is jealous of Neo on the basis of having been a previous candidate, but I don't exactly think that's strictly necessary to understand his desire for a mindlessly hedonistic lifestyle.

---

Okay, I'll give you that one. Never really was sure how Cypher managed to catch the Agents' attention without getting shot on sight. Perhaps Smith recognized an offer he couldn't refuse, and, both characters being opportunists, he and Cypher leaped at the chance to strike a bargain.

It may also have something to do with Smith's ability to at least somewhat mimic human mannerisms on occasion. Agent Brown and Agent Jones are about as personable as cardboard, so it's my pet theory that Smith was designated to be the "human whisperer" of the trio. Hence why Cypher conducts his negotiations with Smith at a restaurant while the other two stand guard.

The scene where Neo sneaks up on Cypher implies Cypher had been doing some hacking in order to prepare for his meeting with Smith. He turns the screens off immediately afterwards.

Moreover, Enter the Matrix implies people are able to plug into simulations without help from others. I would assume Cypher used the same kind of equipment to plug himself into the Matrix.

During Morpheus' torture, the Agents manage to figure out that Cypher has been killed, thus implying that they were counting on disposing of him all along. Because Smith orders the others to continue as planned, it's kind of obvious they never really intended on giving Cypher what he wanted.

---

Petition to drop the phrase "hasn't aged well" from our collective lexicon. At best, it's a semantically null phrase. At worst, it's being deliberately obtuse towards media history as well as the creative process, a way for audiences to feel superior based on the fallacy of modernity. There have been tons of documentaries on the making of the first film, some of which are included as extras on the original DVD. I recommend you watch a few before you say stuff like this.

Admittedly, this one pisses me off a little because A.) yet again the "hasn't aged well" sentiment inevitably loops back around to overlooking the context and history in which the piece was made, and B.) fuck you, the crew worked incredibly hard on this shit.

"The most egregious offenders are scenes like the helicopter crash, where the building's windows warp unrealistically." - You can excuse people flying twenty feet through the air and dodging bullets, but draw the line at (flips through notes) glass exploding in a circle?

Imagine saying this about The Matrix of all films. The one movie that can handwave unrealistic elements through its premise alone. The film where the entire point is that unrealistic things are happening because you are not watching reality.

and then Neo was like "whoa.exe"

Secondly, the Wachowski sisters spent several months studying how glass explodes in order to achieve the ripple effect seen in the film. While CG was used to enhance the scene, the underlying framework rests on a foundation of practical effects. They made dummy rigs and ran through tons of tests to find the precise kind of glass that could accomplish what they envisioned.

The special effects director was pretty hard on himself during a watchthrough with Carrie-Anne Moss, actually. He thought some of the digital effects looked horrible, specifically Agent possessions, and said they could have done better. People saying stuff like this just makes me feel worse for him in retrospect.

Bullet-time looks unimpressive to you now because it's been parodied to death over the past twenty-five years. I fail to see how this is the film's fault.

Subjective perspective changes trying to pass themselves off as objective critique without taking any of a media's history or creative process into account are a part of the reason why I think "hasn't aged well" is a thought-terminating cliche and ultimately useless in discussions of this ilk. It doesn't effectively communicate anything of meaning. You might as well say "this film features moving pictures" or "this video game has controls" for all the information you're imparting.

---

I will concede that Resurrections was a glaringly obvious cash grab and a huge waste of potential. The first half of the film nearly rivals the the first act of M1 in terms of its psychological intrigue, building a slowburn of anticipation… Only to completely shit the bed, devolving into a cynical montage of fanservice and half-baked ideas that amount to nothing more than a shrug. I'm not a Neo/Trinity fan in the slightest, so the "hook" they hoped would reel me in didn't work on me.

However, I think there is more substance to Reloaded and Revolutions than people commonly give them credit for. Perhaps not as entertaining stories, but certainly there's a lot of cud to chew on in terms of the philosophical elements they offer. And this is coming from someone who thinks Reloaded is easily the most boring film of the quadrilogy narrative-wise. The sequels build coherently upon concepts established in the original, if you pay attention.

Reloaded's "We cannot see past the choices we don't understand" is a natural extension of the first film's mantra, "Know thyself." The inability or unwillingness to "know thyself" proves Smith's undoing in Revolutions, since during his "me, me, me" phase he does not do any of the self-actualization or self-reflection that Neo undertakes on his path to achieving peace.

Smith's fatal flaw is his self-myopia. He purports to know how the world works, but he remains blind to himself. And it is because he does not understand himself that he cannot understand others, and thus cannot see his own destruction beyond the brief moment of victory he glimpses with the Oracle's vision. Smith is painfully aware of every single thing except his own inner workings, and that creates in him a void that can never be sated. His myopia explains why he cannot conceive of why Neo fights out of choice. He cannot understand any choice because he does not understand the value of free will.

The inability to see how his character evolves throughout the "forgettable" sequels is what led to galaxy brains on Reddit concluding "Smith is actually The One huehuehuehue" based on the flimsiest of evidence (and a lot of pulling shit from the deepest sanctums of anus, since, let's be real, nobody in this Chili's particularly paid attention to what M1 had to say about him either) and it's like. bruh

[tazzertopia]

my thoughts on the hxh phantom rouge movie

pls do not take this too seriously i just wanna talk about things i noticed when watching it while sleep deprived last night 😊👍😊👍

🚨YAPPER ALERT🚨

-ik kurapika defo would’ve mentioned him at some point to gon and killua but how the fuck did they recognise (puppet) uvogin… like no hesitation….. did kurapika show them a picture or what

-why was kurapika so badly dumbed down and ooc in the movie it actually pissed me off (not really) like one of the main plot points is that the puppet guy (insufferable prick who I’ll get to later) used dead pairo to steal kurapika’s eyes but the issue is that he used pairo’s child self to lure him in like…. 🤨 based on the flashbacks i’m assuming kurapika was around 11-12 when the kurta clan massacre happened and pairo was probably either the same age or a year or two younger (i am not looking this up due to i can’t be bothered) so how the fuck did kurapika not question why his supposedly alive friend hadn’t aged a day in about five years

-especially as kurapika is mostly pretty level headed and logical so how would he not figure that out

-the timeline was confusing as hell to me bc based on uvo and pakunoda being dead in the movie and killua still having illumi’s manipulation needle i’d assume it’s anywhere between the end of the york new arc to the end of the greed island arc but thanks to the power scaling it’s really hard to tell ????????? like somehow gon and killua were basically unscathed after getting directly hit by uvo (the physically strongest member of the troupe) but basically just attacked by combining their nen and overall didn’t seem that strong like how strong are they meant to be by this point

-the townspeople in this movie are coming out on top in the idgaf war because the way none of them reacted to uvo demolishing a hospital… like no commotion. NADA. they just minded their business the entire movie (inspirational tbh)

-but also why was the hospital so desolate and why was kurapika the only one there

-the way only gon, killua and the blonde girl reacted to uvo fucking up the hospital while kurapika remained unbothered

-finally gonna talk about that ugly mf omokage

-he looks like a toxic love interest from an early 2000s dark fantasy harem anime

-like why was he in a completely different art style

-his ability soul doll or whatever it’s called is stupid op bc you’re telling me he can just create puppets of anyone he wants with their exact strength just like that ???????

-also what is the criteria for creating the puppets bc i swear they never explain how he’s able to create them

-like does he need their hair or what

-still confused on how kurapika used chain jail on him considering he isn’t a spider anymore (no clue how the limitations to his power were so flexible) #plotconvenience

-illumi looked uglier than usual in this movie especially at the beginning when he killed those kids

-hisoka’s hair being more orange than red also pissed me off

-we got one shalnark line in the movie tho 😍😍😍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 crumbs

-speaking of crumbs for a movie about the phantom troupe they had barely any screen time

-like barely even five minutes 💔

-lastly just wanna say how fuxking ugly the blonde girl’s puppet was i hate it so much

-lastly lastly ik i posted this already but the cgi fish made me giggle bc they look so out of place (ik i couldn’t do any better i just found them funny tee hee)

that’s it hope you enjoyed reading my complaints about a cash-grab anime movie 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕😜😜😜😜 can’t wait to watch the last mission tonight so i can complain about it tomorrow 💙 that’s what you get when you’re desperate for hxh content lols but like i said pls don’t take this too seriously okay mwah xoxoxo

[sekai-no-koi]

to expand on your latest dc post (absolutely agree on what u said) do you think rather than shinichi not telling her bc ""shes a snitch"", woudlnt it have made more sense for the writting to specify he doenst want to tell her for selfish reasons? I mean definitely their relationship would be much different if she were aware of everything going on, it would make things weird. ik canon dc absolutely loves making it so that shinichi most of the time has no feelings or opinions on his own situation rahter than i wanna bring justice and go back to my real life but like. becomign a child and having to pretend to be a kid while in danger of putting everyone at risk and lying to all your loved ones, if he can at least be sure that whenever he fixes the issue he can pretend nothing happened and ran would be none the wiser...i think it would make more sense for him not to tell her if they made this the reason lol .

You can come off anon, I don't bite! I have to assume this is etude-in-citrine, because I never get asks 🤭 Either way, welcome! It's okay if you don't agree with me. And you don't have to change your mind, either! Just in case you wondered, though, I'll go ahead and explain my thoughts a bit more.

Putting aside what would be narratively satisfying for a second, canon is pretty clear about how Shinichi feels about lying to Ran. The moments that stand out most to me specify that he DOES actually want to tell her. In the anime and manga, he's actually promised her that he'll explain everything when it's all over. I find it difficult to see the intentions you've suggested for him. Shinichi values the truth. He's brash, direct, honest, and very loyal to the people close to him. It didn't even occur to him to lie until Agasa told him to, and since that was like RIGHT after the most humbling moment in his life. Then a LOT happened and, it's probably difficult to imagine tackling that topic. With so much still going on, I can sort of understand why he doesn't want to get into that with her right now. But, ultimately...?

I've just watched all the movies again so they're the freshest in my mind, but in Last Wizard of the Century, when she directly asks him if he's really a different person than Shinichi, his internal thought is, "I can't do this anymore."

Only very early on do we get him assuming that if he can go back to full size, he can go back to his regular high school detective life. As DC has gone on, his life has actually been enriched by the connections he's made as Conan. Even in the early seasons, we see that he's grown to care a lot for the Detective Boys in particular. There are parts of being Conan that I really don't think Shinichi will want to give up. He can still salvage some of those relationships (imo) if he tells them the truth when all's said and done.

But perhaps most importantly:

It's bullshit to assume that Ran will be none the wiser.

She's already suspicious of him, she has been suspicious of him, she's directly investigated the possibility that they're the same person more than once. At a certain point, they decided to leave it with her "waiting for Shinichi to tell her," which (again imo) is stupid.

Applying a little meta analysis for a second, if HAD to keep her functioning as if she's in the dark, it's not the worst way to do it. Not what I would've chosen, but whatever, right?

The point is, the ship of "fooling Ran and keeping this from her entirely" has LONG since sailed.

Let's entertain this suggestion for a moment. If he really did just pop back into her life and try to pretend like nothing happened, then I can't imagine she'd just let him off the hook. (reflecting on her mischaracterization in Black Iron Submarine: at least, I hope she won't.) Sonoko definitely won't. What I imagine Ran would actually do is confront him about it, and if he won't answer, investigate the truth for herself. I'm not sure what steps she'd take, but in reality if she could get Agasa alone and interrogate him about it, I think she'd get the truth. Because at that point, if she KNOWS she's being lied to and it's not her safety on the line anymore, there's no reason to keep it all from her. It won't save her relationship with Shinichi, because if she knows something's wrong and he's not telling her about it, how is Ran supposed to feel? And Shinichi's supposed to live with the guilt of lying to her indefinitely?

Narratively speaking, that ending would be a real flopping bummer, you know? Contrasting that with an ending where he confesses everything to her and lays everything at her feet... Well, maybe that's subjective, but personally I prefer the latter. It gives more respect to everything he's already put Ran through. It feels more like him. I actually hope he tells her before there's any kind of a big showdown, because I refuse to believe there's no part she could play in helping with that.

So, just to bring it all together here, I don't think Shinichi wants to lie to Ran any longer than he has to. He values the truth, and he values her. I don't think he'd feel right trying to keep it from her once all was said and done. I think he longs for the truth.

[mccarthawrites]

Admit - Chapter 5

Rated: General Audiences

Summary: Bucky finally admits to Emily what happened to Colin.

Words: 985

Admit Masterlist || Bucky Barnes Masterlist

Emily finally got the courage to ask Bucky out for dinner. Just the two of them. She was both excited and nervous about dating again, Andy had moved back in with her to help out with Lily, but also because he wanted to squash any excuse Emily could make about not dating again. He immediately agreed to babysit when Emily mentioned the date. The night came and while Emily was excited, she was more nervous. 

“How do I look?” Email walked into the living room where Lily and Andy sat on the sofa watching a movie.

“Mom!” Lily gasped. “You look so pretty!”

“Yeah. You look good, but I think since it’s a date, you should lose the chain.” Andy added.

“Oh, shit! You’re right.” Emily took off the chain she wore her wedding ring on. “He’ll be here any minute.”

“He’s picking you up on his bike?” Andy asked.

“No. He said he has a car.” Emily replied. She took a deep breath.

“You okay?”

“Yeah! I just- I haven’t been on a date in years.”

“You’ll be fine. I like him.”

“I guess that’s a good sign. What are you guys watching?” Email asked, leaning on the arm of the sofa.

“Your kid is obsessed with the Cruella movie, but you never showed her the original animated movie.” Andy told her. “So I figured I’d catch her up on old Disney you’ve missed out on.”

“Andy said we can watch Cruella after.”

“Again? How many times have you made him watch Cruella?”

“I don’t mind it.” He shrugged. “There’s worse movies she could make me rewatch.”

“Fair enough.”

“Plus the reporter chick is cute.” He added.

“Andy has a crush on Anita. But only the Anita in Cruella. He doesn’t like the Anitas in the other movies.” Lily explained.

“Because the other Anita’s are boring.”

“No. It’s because she looks like Alice.”

“She’s got you there.” Emily laughed. “Uncle Andy’s got a type.”

“What’s a type?” Lily asked.

“She’s got you there.” Andy looked at Emily, waiting for an answer. The doorbell rang. “Saved by the bell.”

“Thank God.” Emily walked to the door. Opening it, she found Bucky wearing slacks, a black button down and a blazer. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Bucky smiled.

“Wait! I wanna say hi!” Lily jumped up and ran to the door. “Hi, Bucky!”

“Hey, Lily. How are you?”

“Andy told me to tell you to make sure you bring my mom back by ten.” Lily told him, making him chuckle.

“I promise to have her home by ten.” Bucky nodded.

“Good. Have fun. Bye!” Lily ran back to the couch.

“I guess that means we’re good to go.” Emily smiled.

Throughout dinner, Emily noticed Bucky was more nervous than normal. He was much more fidgety than she’d seen him, assuming he must have been nervous for the same reason she was. She didn’t know the secret that was eating at him. She didn’t know the bomb that he was going to drop at dinner.

“You should have seen Andy’s face when I told him about this date. You’d think he was more excited for me to date again than I was.” Emily laughed. “And Lily- she likes having you around. We got lucky bumping into you at the supermarket back in August.”

“I wouldn’t say lucky.” Bucky replied.

“No. We are.” She smiled. He took a deep breath. “Everything alright?”

“I like spending time with you and Lily. I think I’m the lucky one in this scenario.”

“You’re sweet.”

“Emily, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“Okay.”

“It’s about Colin.” Bucky knew exactly what he had to say, but it didn’t make this conversation any easier. “He-” He swallowed hard. “He died in an explosion. It- it wasn’t a car accident.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was-” He stopped, knowing there was no going back.. “The Winter Soldier blew up his car.”

“Why are you telling me this?” She asked.

  “Because it was me.” As soon as the words left his lips, the energy between them changed.

“What the hell are you saying?” Emily asked. “Because if I’m understanding you- you just said you killed Colin.”

“I’m sorry, Emily.”

“Please tell me this is some fucked up joke.”

“It’s not.” His voice was quiet.

“Why?”

“I had no choice.”

“What does that mean?” She asked. “Why Colin? He was in advertising.”

“He wasn’t a mark. He was collateral damage.”

“Collateral damage? That’s all he was? The love of my life was just collateral damage? My little girl will never know her father because he was just collateral damage? Are you fucking kidding me?” She raised her voice.

“If I could change things. If I could-”

“Why? Why did you wait till now to tell me? You’ve been here for months. Is that why you’re here? You were following us. Lily knew, but I just thought you were new in town.”

“I- I planned to tell you the day when we met, but-”

“But what?” She asked. “You thought you’d weasel your way into the lives of me and my daughter. She welcomed you in with open arms. Not knowing you took the most important man from us.”

“I’m sorry, Emily.”

“No.” She shook her head. “Your apology means nothing. Do me a favor. Get out of town. Stay away from me and Lily. I hope to never see you again.” She got up and left the restaurant. Bucky sat in stunned silence. The worst possible outcome happened, but how could he blame her? The waiter approached the table.

“Is there anything I can get you?”

“The check please.” Bucky’s voice was quiet and dry. They didn’t even make it to the meal. He paid for the drinks and left the restaurant. She was gone. He assumed she called a cab or had Andy pick her up. It didn’t matter. He was never going to see her again.

[meshaamem-li]

ok but like, you know they're not the only people to do it, right?

they're not making a game for the art, not in the same way Dungeon Meshi is made, who - while I'm not familiar with the creator - I assume is working alone or in a small team and is very passionate about her story. genshin is making a game to sell, that is and will always be their primary objective.

you know who else does this? almost every single franchise that is designed to sell. look at my little pony, modern Disney princess movies, isekai anime since the success of SAO, they all share the same problem, because they're developed with profits in mind first, and quality second. does it mean their quality is trash? no, I think mlp is very high quality, especially for a show aimed at young girls, every time a disney documentary comes out about the process of making a movie, you can feel the passion of the writers pouring from every corner of the studio, their main issue is always time restraints, and the first half of the first season of SAO was actually not that bad! it wasn't that good, but it wasn't the hot trash that is its imitations!

it might be hard to remember, since we're getting spoiled left and right by talented creators who are finally getting the opportunity to share their creations with the world, but it's only until recently that we got the chance to see diverse casts in our media. when I was growing up, seeing a dark skinned character was reserved to only the occasional token black guy, asian people were always stereotypes, Jewish characters were just white people with a bar mitzvah, and muslim characters didn't exist anywhere near kids media. anime would always be the default light skinned characters, dark skinned characters didn't exist or were racist stereotypes. we are so blessed to have culturally diverse characters in our media now, and it's only the beginning.

genshin designs are made to sell, there's no arguing that, they're going for the most "visually appealing" body types, best and most colourful designs they can think of, and character kits that more often than not get their use in the meta (unless you're a dori or xinyan fan). their designs follow a few loose rules, like how a character should usually be colored like their element, and their backside is usually more important than their front due to it being seen by the player more. there is a lot of criticism from their audience over some of the male designs being feminine (can't remember if it was the Chinese audience, the korean, or both, but there was a lot of criticism over Lyney's femboyish design), they're pushing a lot of boundaries with the Chinese government as well.

but back to the point, since the main concern is money, adding large ears, large nose, etc, is a potential financial loss first, and an interesting design feature second. if the character doesn't sell, then what's the point of releasing it? and about the skin, I won't lie, I think the main reason is racism. idk if it's from the company, parts of the audience, or something else, but they don't like releasing people of color, also it doesn't seem they get the best kits either. would people of color sell? in the west probably, with people of color almost definitely, can't speak for eastern audiences but it seems like some of them already hate every character that isn't a big titty lady. we don't actually know if poc will sell more overall, but white already sells, so the safe bet is go for slightly tanned white-if-you-squint depends on the context type characters.

and you know why that hurts so much? because they do such a great job with representing cultures that aren't their own! they do their research! people really enjoy seeing their culture on screen! the only insulting part is how the characters just lack a little bit of melanin. 10-20 years ago this game would be praised for its representation, but the standards are higher today.

idk man, tldr: genshin isn't unique with their cookie cutter designs, and it's something that happens when you start a project with the goal of profit. it doesn't make them evil.

What’s your thoughts on Delicious in Dungeons Character Designs?

Ryoko Kui is the best to ever do it.

[keroppidreams]

oh right, i almost forgot about this but ginklara angst thoughts under the cut (spoilers for be forever yorozuya movie and warning for mentions of death) (happy late anni, BFY!)

day 1 of gin's disappearance: klara isn't worried. when kagura and pachi ask if shes seen him, she assumes that he's probably fooling around in a pachinko parlor or got drunk and passed out at a random corner. ...actually the latter is a bit concerning considering someone could easily steal 300 yen from him, so she keeps an eye out for him. plans on giving him a lecture and reminding him to be more careful in the future.

day 3 of gin's disappearance: now she's panicking. something is definitely wrong. he wouldn't just leave out of the blue. sure, he gets into some weird and concerning shit at times, but that only lasts for, like, 2 manga chapters or anime episodes! He would've been back by now! she starts having trouble concentrating at work and decides to take the time off to help kagura and pachi search for him.

day 7 of gin's disappearance: shinsengumi hasn't seen him, nobody has encountered him in yoshiwara, hell, even zura hasn't seen him running around. did he somehow hitch a ride to space?? see, this is why she keeps trying to convince him to get a cell phone in case of emergencies, but nooo, he's too damn stubborn! ...stupid gin.

day 10 of gin's disappearance: ...now that she thought about it, he was acting a little strange a couple days before his disappearance. he kept staring off into space, even when someone was talking to him. she half-jokingly asked if he was late on rent again. he told her to piss off, so she reminded him that he can talk to her if there's something on his mind. they could even talk it over some parfaits at tenny's (not that it's a date or anything ofcoursenot).

he looked a bit sad when she told him that.

days turn into weeks, then months. her time on earth is starting to run out as her family and friends back on her home planet are asking when she's coming back. they mention that they heard theres a plague spreading around edo, and they don't want her to get sick. she reassures them that she'll return home soon, she's just waiting for someone. plus, she needs to keep an eye on some of her friends, or else they might get into trouble---especially sacchan. she's been pushing herself too hard as of late.

i'm not sure when exactly in the timeline kagura and pachi find the journal and learn that gin is "dead", but when klara finds out, shes baffled. theyre playing a prank on her, right? theres no way gin would die by eating poisonous mushrooms after going on a quest to search for something! the journal has to be fake...there's no way...maybe pachi read the entries wrong! sure, she isn't an expert in earthling language, but there's plenty of homophones and strange grammar rules! maybe gin meant to write something else down, but made a mistake and as a result, the sentence got misconstrued!

she tries so hard to hold back her tears as she offers her hypothesis, but gradually starts breaking down when she sees kagura and pachi's expressions before accepting that he's gone.

eventually, as the white plague worsens, she ends up returning to her planet despite her reluctance (will the kids be okay? ...though now that she thought about it, they dont look like kids anymore. theyve gotten taller. how would gin feel if he saw them now? maybe he'd feel old...). but before she does, she looks around the office one last time, trying to etch all the details into her mind. a part of her is expecting to see gin lounging on the couch or sitting at his desk, reading jump.

she doesnt.

klara ends up leaving earth. though she stays in contact with everyone, she doesn't find out the truth about gin's disappearance, and continues to believe that her first love disappeared one day without saying a word and died by consuming poisonous mushrooms. though it's not like the truth would make her feel any better.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Dragon Spell (2016)

I see low-budget animated films make the same mistakes made over and over again. I don’t understand why. I’m not saying the people behind The Dragon Spell aren’t talented but they had to know they didn’t have Toy Story 4 money, so why do they and their kin try to reach for the stars when they could so easily go for the cookie jar on the counter instead? Clumsily written, ugly and stiff, I wonder who could sit through this movie and honestly say they had a great time.

Years ago, a ferocious dragon terrorized the world until a tanner named Ciryll (Mike Pollock) defeated it. Now, the dragon’s spirit lingers in the body of the sorceress Siringa (Melissa Schoenberg), waiting for the day when it can re-claim its true form and resume its reign of terror. Meanwhile, Cyrill's son, Nicky (voiced by Kate Bristol) is determined to live up to his father's glory. When he and a magical talking bat named Eddie "The Magnificent" (Allen Enlow) accidentally travel through a portal to another realm, they embark on an adventure to return home.

Trying to scratch together a synopsis for this film must have scraped at least a couple of months off of my lifetime. I feel like I’d need to go on and on to properly explain what this movie is about to make you understand why the writing is so bad. The film begins with a promising flashback showing us the tanner defeating the dragon. It’s all done via stylized, 2-D animation and looks great. Cut to the main story. You assume the dragon was killed thousands of years ago, that what we just saw was one of the cornerstones of the vast library of myths and legends this world has to offer, but no. What we just saw happened less than a decade ago. The tanner? He’s still alive. The dragon’s skin? It’s just up in the rafters of his home. When the camera shows it for the first time, Nicky wows. What? Why? Has he never seen it before? It’s been in his house since he was born, hasn’t it? The wizard, Adler (William Tost), knows the dragon’s spirit is after the skin but he hasn’t gotten the monster slayer to destroy it for…. reasons. Keep in mind, this is the first few minutes. This gives you a hint of the sort of penmanship we’re dealing with.

While the textures, hair, etc. are detailed and professional, they’re slapped on top of ugly character models. You get strong “Local grocery store chain” vibes from everyone. Objects don’t have weight, the bat’s anatomy is all wrong, and a flying wooden ship sails through the air like its pilot is a pro when they’re actually at its wheel for the first time. The dragon, meanwhile, moves as gracefully as a duck on land. It doesn’t make any sense as a deliberate choice. Even as something incidental, it’ll have you scratching your head. The people at work HAD to know this wasn’t going to work. I don’t mean story-wise, I meant visually, someone had to - at some point - say “Hey, are we sure the art director isn’t perpetually drunk? these designs don’t work together at all.” The worst offender is Rocky (Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld) and her sidekick, a female squirrel so grotesque you swear there’s something wrong with its genes. There’s a twist about Rocky that’s so badly fumbled I had it figured out, then second-guessed myself just before the actual reveal. It’s one of those movies that’s so predictable it circles around again to surprise you, except when we’re talking about the witch, whose ultimate role in this story is so obvious it would’ve earned the writer a big, fat, red ‘F’ from their teacher.

Conceived as a comedic adventure for kids, the only time The Dragon Spell is funny is when you listen to the lyrics of its only song. I don’t know what’s going on there. The words make no sense in any context. Key verses include:

Nothing can go wrong if you know the animation

Life is a movie and you’re the animation

Sometimes life can be like a lead hole

Let your life play out like a movie

Live the life shine it every day

Make your movie with the computer of the day

...

Yeah. You read that correctly.

While these make for some laughs - the equivalent of a delicious cheeseburger in the middle of a barren wasteland - it’s not enough to recommend the film, even as something “So bad it’s good”. Though the screenplay isn't good enough to make me think slam-dunk character designs and movements would've made a difference, that's a big issue with this film - and others like it. The film is too ambitious for its budget and can't compensate with "easier" elements of the filmmaking process. By this, I mean the writing, songwriting, voicework, etc. the kind of things a single, hardworking and dedicated person could polish off on their own. If you can't get the animation down, you have to make up for it in another department.

The Dragon Spell only lasts 85 minutes but it feels like so much more. I can't even say that it's enlightening or educational as a failure. It's just dull and disappointing. “Magical lands have their downsides” indeed. (English Dub, May 27, 2022)

[erigold13261]

I’m a bit afraid to ask but… what’s your thoughts on JJK S2 + the movie so far?

Already said this, but why the FUCK can Maki hear curses and why does she look at them when she doesn't have glasses on!? And Mei Mei is wonderfully animated (though I talked more with a coworker about her and I fucking hate that the series turns her into... THAT.)

But I'm liking it so far! I kept saying in my head that the reasoning that Satoru used to get Yuta to join JJK was fucking stupid. He's been lonely his whole fucking life (or at least the last 6 years) why the fuck does Satoru saying "wouldn't that be lonely?" or whatever change Yuta's mind to WANT to join JJK?

The kid literally tried to kill himself seriously enough that Rika had to stop the knife! He had full intention to end himself but just saying he could be lonely gets him to change his mind of 6 years of loneliness and trauma? I just thought that part was a bit dumb/rushed.

LOVED the design for cursed Rika though! Absolutely amazing design right there! Like her a lot more before the eye became a part of the design though.

OH! YEAH! Why the fuck is Yuta still alive!? The pact was for Rika AND him to die! That is how the curse was broken! It was a PACT! No matter if Rika wanted him to live, he should have died with her! >:(

Anyway, the movie was really good. Satoru is a fucking baby who could have stopped everything from going to shit if blue just killed Suguru at the end of the movie (obviously there would be no story but dude, come on. You know he's a threat).

Oh! Also love how Rika was animated when Yuta walked into the classroom for the first time. That was really well done!

And Maki is a bitch. Like way more of a bitch than she needs to be. I get her being upset with herself because she can't see curses or use cursed energy (and this was before more of her character development later in her life), but she still felt so much ruder to Yuta than she needed to be.

There is a difference between being blunt and being mean, and I feel like she was just being mean. Or at least projecting onto him (or I guess doing that tsundere thing because apparently she liked him and he liked her? Don't know why but kinda wish Rika and her's dynamic got fleshed out a bit more or something idk.).

For the Hidden Arc, I wish we got to see more young Kento and Yu. Like obviously I wasn't expecting much, but WHY bring them to Okinawa at all if those two weren't going to actually help Riko? (loved the annoyed fave Kento did when he heard Satoru and Suguru were staying an extra night though. That made me laugh hehe).

Speaking of Riko, I was NOT expecting that ending at all... I did not like her attitude in the beginning, but I was giving her grace because of the circumstance she was in. Which is why I warmed up to her really quickly by the end of the arc.

Talked with a coworker to ask if we get more information about Heavenly Pacts because those sound interesting, but looks like we only get scraps and tidbits throughout the series so far. Which sucks because hearing Toji's story really got me interested in them.

Toji was also really cool! Kinda annoying with how he acted, BUT it actually worked in favor for his character I think! He is really fucking smart but just has this I don't care attitude that usually annoys me, yet it works with him because he seems consistent? I don't know how to explain it, but he's fun and not totally annoying in how he acts.

Also, can he actually see curses? Because he has NO cursed energy, does the Heavenly Pact allow him to do that? That's what I am assuming, but I don't know shit about Heavenly Pacts yet.

Oh yea! When he got his with hollow purple I think the animators should draw organs! Him and Satoru should have been showing some guts from their wounds! Would have been better to me lol.

Speaking of gutting, does Suguru get to just keep using curses that were destroyed/exorcised? I swear that rainbow dragon got killed like 2-3 times and he kept using it, but Megumi's shadow puppets die and can never be used again? That sucks (maybe I am misremembering the curses Suguru uses, it's not like he can unsummon them like Megumi can).

That scissor/am I pretty curse that Suguru uses is so fucking cool! I want to see that one more!

I am just rambling now honestly. They were all really good. Almost all my problems with it so far are very nitpicky and technical. But I'm enjoying the show still up to this point!

(Still not looking forward to Hanami's death. Was also told Mechamaru dies later to Mahito and I hope it looks cool. Like if you are gonna kill a cool character let them die in a cool way! From what I was told Hanami dies in a dumb way and I want her to be dead in a cool way!

I think we also don't get to see her domain!!! NOOOOO! Please tell me we do! I hope my coworker just didn't remember it and we get to see it! We already saw Volcano Heads, Cuttle Fish, and Mahito's domains! Don't fucking tease us for Hanami's! She was about to use it before Satoru decided to be a bitch and shoot her! >:0)

Okay yea, lol. I'm done. Good shit so far!

[adultswim2021]

Robot Chicken #61: “Help Me” | December 7, 2008 - 11:30PM | S04E01

In the early 2000s, my family shared a hotel room during one of our trips. The kids, myself and my sister, were getting older, almost alarmingly adult-like, and this would probably be one of the final times we ever did this. We were all trying to figure out a thing to watch on the television set that would please all, or at least most, of us. South Park was starting. Mom didn’t wanna watch. Dad and the kids did. It was an episode I’d seen already, and I it was a fairly mild one as far as vulgarity was concerned. I turned to my mom and said “don’t worry, this one isn’t so bad”. When it ended, she agreed, it wasn’t “that bad”.

That moment occurred to me during some of this show’s least-worst sketches, because at its best, Robot Chicken seems to elicit a ���not that bad” reaction in me. I still hate the show, but some of the sketches manage to not piss me off. Anyway, that was my review of the episode. Goodnight. 

Okay, fine, I’ll write about some of the sketches. 

The first one is the now customary “resolving last season’s cliffhanger” sketch, which has the Chicken boys begging Hollywood elites to help them revive the show after being canceled last season. They talk to Josh Weaties and the guy who made Battlestar Garfieldia. I don’t like those guys/shows, so I don’t know what any of them were on about. They finally get in Seth MacFarlane’s ear, and he does Family Guy style cutaway gags to make their dreams come true. Cute. I didn’t mind that bit!

Next was a PaRappa the Rapper sketch, which seemed well done but I don’t know shit about that game other than the commercials for it. There is also a parody of the Trojan Man, which was an ad campaign I’m assuming is no longer relevant in 2023. Not to brag, but I don’t watch commercial television too much, so I really have no idea. It turns out I have little to say about this one, which is why I grouped it with the other sketch I don’t have much to say about. 

The worst sketch of the night is titled (according to the robot chicken wiki) “Pre-Pubescent Alien Whore”, which is about A Shot of Love with Tila Tequila. I lived through this era as a semi-conscious adult, and it was a little comforting realizing that I nearly forgot everything about Tila Tequila. She is actually providing her own voice in this. Anyway, the premise of the show was that it was a dating game show and both men and women competed for her affections because she was a very sexy bi. In this she is revealed to be like, a robot? I don’t know man, this was dogshit. I might argue that it aged better as a quaint throwback that only exists to jog the memories of old assholes like me. In 2008 one of the main things I got mad at was parodies of highly-ephemeral TV shows, just like what this is. Still sucks!

The last sketch is maybe the best sketch; it’s a subscription service that only shows you the good parts of movies and TV shows. I didn’t laugh at this, but at least I felt slightly less alienated by the jokes about older motion pictures. The gag where they condense Wizard of Oz and they briefly show a Munchkin hanging itself in plain sight was funny. Joke of the episode. Hey, why not end this on a positive note? I’m nice!

EPHEMERA CORNER:

MAIL BAG

Message from KON!

Well, *I* like the Drinky Crow Show. It's odd to me that AS would talk shit about it, but still make other shows with the same production company (Mongo Wrestling Alliance and King Star King, each of which is objectively worse).

I never saw a second of King Star King, but yes, Mongo Wrestling Alliance might be in the running for the worst show Adult Swim ever aired. It's basically Ripping Friends but everyone smiles too much.

Also I think Drinky Crow is roughly a good show writing-wise, but the animation really turns me off! It looks okay sometimes. I think it would be incredible if Tony Millionaire were allowed to make a big-budget Maakies thing with actual good animation. At least a short. Uncle Gabby brings Drinky Crow a bunch of cans without labels...