#I just want a balance of drama and comedy! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thirteenashmctrash · 1 year

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okay so i have gained a new species of spore for my collective brainrot and i have found the perfect selling pitch to drag everyone i care about down with me. if you know the show this is hilarious. if you haven't watched it pay attention:

the show's called leverage. you know how there's those crime serials that aren't good at all but we've all watched a little too much of at least one of them even though they are blatant copaganda which is morally terrible? take your favorite one of those, but remover the copaganda. all the characters are criminals but their only victim is capitalism. every cop in the show is stupid at best and blatantly corrupt to a disgusting level most of the time. there is just as much genuine and intelligent social commentary as this premise demands.

i sense i already have you hooked. i can make this better. stick with me for a minute on this: the character dynamic is a muppet movie but also the Scooby gang

stick with me here!

You have Parker, who fit into the Scooby gang as Scooby and would be played by Gonzo. her crime thing is that she is a cat burglar and she is very good at it. her skill with it is borderline slapstick (hence Scooby) and she is very autistic coded and misunderstood (hence Gonzo)

You've got Eliot, who is the Shaggy and is played by Sam Eagle. He is the brute force of the team and he wants you to think he is all serious and grimdark. but he loves making the employees and victims of their capitalist targets aware of unions and he is a big himbo. i say he is shaggy because he plays Parker's straight man, he has the second most cartoonlike abilities, and he has a passion for cooking

Hardison is Velma as played by Kermit. he is a geeky hacker with a passion for orange soda and he is the heart of the team. he gets overlooked as leader even though he is the driving force of everything they do. like Velma. he also has that trademark Kermit brand of slapstick and deadpanned humor in balance.

Sophie is Daphne as played by miss piggy. she is basically the world's best grifter, she usually the front man interacting with the target the most. she has that crazy streak and the self defense capacity that miss piggy and Daphne (when she's done right) both have. she also has the confidence and style.

Nate is Fred and he is the human character. Fred has "let's split up gang" and Nate has "then we have to steal *fill in the blank with something comedically unfit to finish the sentence*" Fred and Nate are both flat characters with the main trait "i think I'm the leader but my smart friend does all the work" and the main interest of "trapping and screwing over capitalists" he mainly gets to call himself the leader because he's the idea guy and he has an apartment. his role in the muppet analogy is the peak of my pitch if you're still here. because while this is definitely not the Christmas Carol, Nate is the human character because he is Ebenezer Scrooge if instead of being a capitalist, Scrooge was an alcoholic and instead of character growth he was just steadily losing his mind. his moral compass and general intelligence are on a roulette wheel that is spun at random intervals lasting from seconds to the occasional few hours. also he and Sophie have divorced parents of grown children syndrome and the other three are said children. in vibes, of course, they aren't actually related.

if anyone stayed with me through all of that you should seriously watch it. even if i sound like i pulled this all out of my ass. it's so good.

it's an actively anticapitalist, copaganda free crime show where you get to see fun characters beat up every thing bad in society and fuck it all over. it balances fun comedy and wild characters with serious topics and moments in a way that is very natural and genuine. it also has one of my favorite autistic coded characters, a positive and healthy relationship that develops in a way that feels natural to the characters (as well as a rockier one if you're into drama) and it is in the midst of what looks to be an actually well handled revival series with the original cast. i haven't caught up yet but I'm so excited for it. the original had 5 seasons and the revival is waiting to be renewed for season 3.

please go watch leverage. it's so good and it deserves more fans. also i want more fic and that next season

#leverage #please watch leverage #i have only had those blorbos for a few weeks but if anything happens to them i will die #new blorbos #Hardison really is the heart of the group though #you can pry these gay crime dummies from my cold dead hands #parker leverage #alec hardison #eliot spencer #sophie devereaux #nate ford #nathan ford #scooby gang #the muppets #muppets au #scooby doo au #kind of #blorbo #new blorbo who dis

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runabout-river · 5 months

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Thoughts on JJK chapter 242 (Spoilers)

This chapter is all about silly fun and that's why it appropriately starts with what should be a special grade cursed spirit being isekai-ed to another world by Truck-kun.

Kenjaku was originally a woman confirmed.

While Kenjaku and Takaba go through ridiculous scenarios that, as we learn but had already seen last chapter, force Kenjaku's brain to participate, it's Kenjaku who takes damage as long as this will go on.

Still, Kenjaku is actually having fun and his silly faces this chapter are superb.

Kenjaku then forces the grand finale of the comedy sketch by bringing out Takaba's greatest desire in his comedy carrier: being a duo on stage.

It looks like Kenjaku will bring Takaba's CT to an end before he's too injured to fight more. It will probably end up with Takaba having the time of his life after which his CT stops and Kenjaku goes for the kill.

Takaba is still going to pull out one last trump card though, I'm sure of it, and that will mark the moment were Kenjaku will have his first defeat in the series. He won't die but something will go wrong for him and the Culling Games after which we'll go back to Sukuna.

Maybe we'll even get a flashforward to a dramatic moment from that fight (these fights happen simultaneously) before we'll go back to the start of it. I also wanted to say something about these intermediary chapters because I've seen some people being grumpy about them happening right now.

Putting less exciting and less important chapters between the fights of a lifetime is a simple narrative tool to slow down the story while keeping up the tension. We want to see how good or how bad the Sukuna/Yuji fight is going to go. We want to find out of Gojo's death is permanent and what will happen to Megumi now that Sukuna transformed his body.

But Gege said stop! This is too much! I need a break, you need a break and I need to set up some stuff (and also I want to keep Gojo "dead" for a little longer). It's about alternating high stakes with low stakes and not overwhelming the readers with non-stop drama.

Look at this: we had 13 chapters (4 months!) of nothing but a highly technical and hyped up fight with Gojo and Sukuna. My phone can't even get all of that into one screenshot.

So we need a little balance in our life and some time to cool down 😌 and the Yuji fight isn't going to run away, we'll get it in due time so let's just enjoy some laughs with Takaba and Kenjaku's silly faces.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #takaba fumihiko #kenjaku #satoru gojo #sukuna

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beautyconsumer · 2 months

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so i realized writing a fic in which unpacked trauma is dealt with and is planned to have characterizations closer to canon is gonna be heavy as duck,

so now i gotta write some humor/fluff to balance it, it still gonna have drama because that's how I am so-

Please help me decide what to write alongside the body swap fic

More info on each promt in the cut

The Robins and Bees Talk. Batfam alpha/beta/omega dynamics fluff but with a tint of gender analysis in the form of abo verse, protective batfamily (especially Dick) and jaygrant being horney af

Of Paws and Claws. Fluff, so much fluff and Good Dad Bruce Wayne, pack dynamics and Wilson's drama

Heartbeat Song. Fluff and awkward teeneagers being in love, familiy drama. Self discovery, featuring team cheerleader captain Dick Grayson, theater kid-book nerd Jason. internalized homophobia on Grant's part and so much teeneage awkwardness oh my God. Grant bullies everyone but Jason type of dynamic

Egoist. Jason and Dick teaming up with a recently reconciled Grant and Slade but when they meet Dick and Slade feel tension between Jason and Grant.

At this point Jason and Grant are bitter exes who broke up because Grant fucked up but both still love each other so very much. Slade and Dick are hilariously unaware of this and just think they can't stand each other. In this one Slade actually tries.

Iridiscent tears Mermaid au where Bruce adopts his mer kids. Being a hybrid himself from Martha's side.

Has a heartbreak over Jason leaving (cause Bruce Wayne has abandonment issues). Jason’s species' instincts makes him want to leave for years to mature (a la Jason’s death) Arthur in the one who tells him this.

I'm planning on including Atlantis lore in this one along Gotham type of vibes for the mer lore of the robins. Jason comes back home with a partner, and yes you guessed it, it's Grant. I'd play with a lot of merfolk culture and biology (no mpreg tho lol) but I do plan on giving Jason and Grant kids in this one

Like a bat out of hell 5 times in where Bruce meets his son's boyfriend, he hates him until he doesn't. Comedy, drama and obvs JayGrant

Same Kind of Eyes. In which Grant thinks he's cheating on his very hot and very rich boyfriend Jayce Wayne with the hot, tall, dark and handsome Red Hood. Jason thinks Grant is role playing.

#batfam #dc #batman #jason todd #dc comics #bruce wayne #batfamily #dick grayson #grant wilson #grant wilson dc #jaygrant #fic promts #fic ideas #if any of these spark an idea in you and want to write it please do but tag me so i can read it

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helluvabossrewrite45 · 10 months

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Unhappy Campers rewrite - Millie, Moxxie and the Mission

Here's the rewrite for millie's and moxxie's conflict

I figure it would make more sense for moxxie to focus on the mission, rather than impressing a bunch of teenagers and so does millie, but still appreciates the support shes getting on her own achievements instead of being inferior to someone else. This is one of the reasons why this would've been a season 1 episode (the main one being the end)

I kinda want to rewrite moxxies song too, i cant neccesarily do it normally since its got the big white texts with moxxies icon over it but maybe i'll make it happen. I just know that the song would be moxxie's second attempt of finding the one that killed their client by making an intimating song of the clients murder and how he knows who did it (even when he isnt). I got it off a line from another adult show, 'kevin can go f*** himself' (really underrated show btw) where this detective said something about finding suspects through pretending to know who the criminal is, so thats what moxxie is trying to do basically.

But y'know its funny that i mentioned 'kevin can go f*** himself' because that show is meant to satirize sitcom tropes, mainly the 'lazy dumb man-child with the attractive smart wife' where we see it from the wife's pov (whose name is allison) and discover how much of a dipshit kevin is (the husband), especially towards the very end (not spoiling it though) and its not only funny because many adult animated shows are sitcoms with that exact trope but it also shows how a character can change or not through the consequences they would be receiving. Because while both characters (allison and kevin) tend to get away with a lot of shit, we see allison growing more through her receiving more consequences for her actions than kevin who never really has to face any at all (until the very end of course) and its not only from allison either, her friend 'patty', her aunt 'diane' , kevins best friend 'neil' (though i argue he's at the start to but definitely received consequences for his own actions) and thats why i think blitzo and stolas stagnated since they dont tend to be called out on their bullshit and if they do, that wouldnt mean anything because they'll be back to status quo, like a sitcom...

Anyway, I highly recommend 'kevin can go f*** himself'. Its a show from amc+ but its available on 'flixtor' for free (which is where i watched it but you do need ad blockers/extensions for those kinds of sites though). It's interesting, it satirizes the sitcom well, its a drama comedy (kinda like helluva boss but is more well balanced), its formatted pretty uniquely (with it having the 'sitcom light' compare to the darker 'real world'), it only has 2 seasons with 8 episodes each (which are always around 40-46 minutes), it's pretty suspenseful and its even got a sapphic relationship between patty and the detective (who is called 'tammy ridgeway') and their written well. The whole show is pretty well written imo, so if your interested in that or want to watch adult media besides helluva, that might be the show for you.

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva critical #helluva critique #helluva criticism #helluva boss rewrite

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starlight-bread-blog · 7 months

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i just wanted to say your pfp reminded me of diane nyugen from bojack horseman. speaking of which, do you have any opinions on bojack horseman you'd like to share?

That is Diane! :)) My header is also BoJack Horseman with Diane's amazing quote "Sometimes life is a bitch and then you keep living". I love her and this show SO MUCH, and I absolutly have opinions I wanna share.

If I had to pick an episode that encapsulates what this show is, my picks would be:

Let's Find Out

The Shot

That Went Well

The Underground

Episodes that balance comedy with drama so well I can't even begin to dissect it. Let's Find Out's framing device being a game show is so smart, AND THE ENDING- The Shot is so objectively silly but god, it's the only time (?) we see BoJack full on cry. In The Underground they burn and eat Zach Braff✨️ That Went Well just- words can't do it justice.

I also really like the ending. It's PERFECT. (Not literally). BoJack's journey was about radical freedom, about how all of his actions are his fault, about how after rock bottom, life will still continue.

This theme is the reason why the most important episodes aren't the finales. Having BoJack face all the consequences for his actions is the best way to conclude his journey. It's not conclusive, but that's what the show has been saying this whole time.

Also also, Diane's arc in season 6>>>> Like. That's so real. Stories just kinda creep up on you sometimes fully formed. Negative emotions fuel so much art, and her need to make sense of her trauma by using art to help others, and how it parallels Penny--- the show actually stated that tragety has no meaning in season 2. Herb's death was so stupid and served nothing. BoJack tried to give it meaning, but there was none.

Also also also-- the show called out all the freaks who use BoJack to excuse themselves.

You see these writers care about what they're putting out there. And on top of that, it's also an amazing scene. It's like It's You being followed up with That's Too Much Man. Head in the Coulds -> The Showstopper.

Btw – two of the best episodes if the show are one with all words and no words. Both end with a joke that has a meaning. BoJack could have apologized this whole time. And I love that theme that played at the end of Fish Out of Water. AND Free Churro was nominated for an Emmy! Deserved.

I could keep going, but other points I'd like to touch upon deserve a full meta. Thank you for this ask, I had an excuse to talk about BoJack Horseman! Asks about Bjhm are ALWAYS welcome.

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greenerteacups · 3 days

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Hello GT! I almost never comment on anything online, but (after binge-reading Lionheart in about three days) I'm overcome with a desperate need to confess that I've developed an enormous intellectual crush on you as an author. I've never been particularly drawn to Dramione as a pairing before now - or even the HP universe in general as more than a very casual fan - but after reading nearly 600 thousand of your words, I'd be craving more even if that number was 600 million. Thank you very much for sharing Lionheart with the world.

It's a rare pleasure to read something where an immense thoughtfulness shines through so brightly not simply in bits and pieces here and there, but consistently throughout every line and every subplot you stitch together. There are other works of fiction out there that I love, but very, very few of them have been carefully crafted enough to allow me as a reader to sit back and have unshakeable confidence in the depth of the author's vision. Everything you write, from the smallest descriptive details to the grander puzzle pieces tying together each book, is delivered with such intentionality. Sometimes when reading other fiction I'll find myself impatiently wondering "okay, fantastic build-up, but when are we getting to the *really good* part"; with you, every part is the good part. The oft-cited slow-burn mantra of "it's not the destination, it's the journey" doesn't even ring true for me with Lionheart - because in your capable hands, you hurl us straight at that destination with every chapter. All of this to say that my starstruck inner writer is currently pinning a hypothetical pin-up poster of you to my hypothetical writer-ly bedroom wall as someone to look up to.

One of my favourite aspects of your work is how utterly hilarious you are both in your character dialogue and your prose. You've made me laugh more than you've made me cry - and you're guilty of making me cry a lot, especially in Book Four. You balance us between hysterical (funny) and hysterical (dirty, raw feelings) without a trace of whiplash, quite often imparting both simultaneously. Is interweaving humour with Everything Else something that comes naturally to you while writing or is it a process you're consciously juggling?

I've brooded and preened over this message for entirely far too long, and it's not fair to you. Suffice it to say you're kinder than I deserve and this made me want to cry. Any and all pin-up posters of me should render me looking like a deer in headlights, as is the appropriate reaction to this kind of honor.

I'm especially delighted by the hysteria (plural)! In general, it's easier for me to write humor than it is for me to write drama. Not that either one is easy as such, but I think drama requires more architecture. You don't have to explain if a joke is funny; it just is funny, and the audience knows why the characters are laughing/amused/happy. In drama, you have to achieve a certain level of technical character work to set up the punch of a moment; there's stakes, plotting, resonance, etc., and then you have to actually deliver it in a way that isn't either flippant, ironic, or Narm. Basically, there are more axes of failure. And the stakes of a joke failing are pretty low, too: worst case, your audience is like "eh, not that funny" and they move on. If a dramatic moment fails, it can take the legs out from under a whole arc.

One of my tests for whether a moment is ripe for comedy is the question of what the comedy is doing. Is it a realistic reflection of the character's voice in that situation? And, perhaps more importantly: why am I feeling the need to put comedy in this scene? Do I want it because it's natural and tone-appropriate, or am I trying to disguise my own insecurity about the dramatic content of the scene? If the latter, I tend to cut. You can't write from fear, you know?

#greenteacup asks #'with you every part is the good part' this is so wildly moving and poetic. what the fuck. i'm stealing this for my wedding vows.

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zukkacore · 22 days

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Coupling a few different headcanons together and I don’t remember if divorce exists in ATLA or if Mai is Izumi’s mom but part of me does think it would be funny if Zuko invented divorce specifically for Mai’s sake & so with her alimony from her failmarriage she’s free to spend several years being roommates w Sokka while they go to the university in ba sing se except this is not so that she can be employable her goal is to rack up as many useless degrees as possible.

One of her and Sokka’s favorite pastimes is attending essentially university workshops for open “mic” nights for like spoken word and stuff. Sokka kinda enjoys the artistry, Mai just wants to not be bored so she approaches these evenings with more irony-poisoning than he does. Mai thinks it would be very funny to sign Sokka up when she thinks he isn’t looking but much to her chagrin he’s actually better at making up poetry on the fly than he is writing it (not that he’s bad he studies different forms for fun™ like he’s basically a lit minor, but he also over-edits bc he’s extremely self critical).

Sokka Is good at spoken word but not in the way where it’s like, the hard hitting unpacking trauma kind of slam poetry, Sokka has never unpacked a trauma in his life, but under pressure he’s good at striking the right balance of comedy and the tiniest bit of vulnerability and clever wordplay. (This is also why he’s not that good at poetry he sits down and Thinks about, especially when asked to write anything abt himself bc he finds it incredibly navel-gazing and embarrassing). Still, Mai continues to play this joke on him when he least expects it, mainly bc she loves committing to the bit. She eases up for a while bc he starts to suspect her too much only to spring the bit onto him again whenever someone comes to visit just for maximum embarrassment, either Toph, Katara, or Zuko. Toph thinks the whole thing is hilarious. Zuko and Katara both find poetry night deeply moving, but Katara finds Sokka specifically being forced to vamp deeply funny.

She’s tried it w Suki but suki doesn’t even flinch & Mai wonders if it’s bc she’s just that supportive or if she’s just not that discerning when it comes to art. The real answer is that she is plently amused and will tell Sokka in her own time but also Sokka has embarrassed himself in front of Suki enough times that she doesn’t blink an eye at anything. Aang also is not fazed but that’s mainly bc he 100% wants to get in on the fun.

In retaliation, Sokka has gotten Mai on stage before but bc mai would rather die than spout poetry her time always ends up basically being musings abt her life that’s pseudo-workshopping material for a Tight Five & like… it’s not really poetry but the crowd is laughing including the guy who throws ppl out when ppl don’t stick to the correct form (on those specific days). So nobody is going to stop her. She tells a lot of really dryly delivered jokes abt her shitty childhood and her failhusband Li from the tea shop and it takes a hot sec before ppl realize holy shit, she’s actually talking abt the fire lord. And also jokes abt discovering lesbianism. Which she’s thoroughly embarrassed abt being late to the party about. & even more embarrassing to be a dyke secretly love with her best friend. Afterwards, Sokka and Mai do have to correct the other patrons who approach them bc they’re convinced Sokka is the dyke she’s in love with. But they’re just friends. (I don’t know how mining comedy out of blatant dyke drama would work if we’re right to assume Sozin invent homophobia in ATLAverse but w/e).

Also. Sokka WILL boo & heckle her out loud when her material stinks. But if anything, this gives her a chance to do crowd-work which she’s good at. So even tho it’s 100% genuine ppl do start to suspect it’s staged.

I also think part of Mai racking up unemployable degrees includes assignments where she makes really off-putting and macabre interactive exhibits/art installations bc she’s trying to work on authentically expressing herself & wants to be an unpalatable as possible to make up for the years of being a perfect daughter. But she also thinks being too earnest is deeply cringe so even tho her pieces are self evidently kinda tortured and gloomy, as a way of preserving her dignity her artist statements are intentionally as brief and opaque as possible for the highest impact comedic punch.

#shut up Janelle #atla #Mai #Sokka #idk what to call this #also this is kinda an amalgamation / my own spin on a lot of the. headcanons or w/e of comradekatara #there’s some zukka and Mailee in there if u squint I guess

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mamadarama · 2 months

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I was going through some posts I missed and came across the “tatsumi is mature but still does 19 year old things” and I just wanna say I’ve never been able to put it into words when my friends ask but like. That’s exactly what I love about this game.

We’ve got scandals and drama and weird crypto currencies and convoluted backstories of implied murder or identity theft or military shit or relations to underground gang activity or so SO much more and yet the writers still succeed in reminding you that this is a game full of high schoolers.

Natume was one of the five oddballs and suffered through so much during the war where it affects him to this day, but he also refers to his tech savvy and love of the occult as magic and loves the junior he “adopted” to death. Despite Aira struggling against every odd to become a real idol he still buys merch and looks on the internet to look for content of the ones he likes. Rinne was destined to become the monarch of his homeland but ran away in an attempt to find happiness and acceptance and is an amazing strategist who uses it to take down corruption, but his sense of humor is entirely made up of sex jokes and romantic teasing like Aira being “hiiro’s little girlfriend”. The amount of characters that assign themselves the mom friend role just because. Trickstar. I don’t think I need to explain Trickstar-

Like this game has made me cry so many times and it has its ridiculous moments but it also has its genuine ones while also being the most teenage shit I’ve seen in my life and I feel like so few media can balance those and still have a decent story like that. Sorry for the long ass post I just have so many feelings about this kind of stuff 😭

YEAH this is exactly what i was talking about in a previous ask when i said i have nothing meaningful to add to the enstars cast that isnt a headcanon . its all very well thought out and the interpersonal relationships are nuanced enough to feel realistic but outlandish enough to be interesting .

worldbuilding and character design is one of my special interests and i say this any chance i can get: the most important part of building a character (and a story in general) is realizing the importance of comedic irony and comedy as a whole regardless of genre or tone. it makes characters feel more 3 dimensional and relatable because people arent stagnant and theres multiple facets to any individuals personality (this is also why some of the most popular animes of all time have filler episodes or funny bits that show the characters personalities, every event hits with 3x emotional impact the more you know about the characters as people but that's a different discussion) enstars does a really good job of this . like for example if wataru were to have had a realistic reaction to eichi starting the war it wouldnt be nearly as good of a story. the fact that eichis ridiculous ass backwards plan to get wataru to fall in love with him actually worked is a perfect example of comedy used to make a story more interesting. another thing similar to this is how sometimes its better to not detail something and let characters do things for a mundane reason or even no reason at all . for example subaru hating chiaki just because he annoys him, or shinobu being on the broadcasting team despite his character not being associated with technology otherwise and therefore having no real backstory on why he likes radio stuff. its all really well planned worldbuilding with an insane amount of subtle details , which is why enstars is one of my favorite stories to analyze . the only thing i could possibly want more out of it is hardcore tragedy but thats entirely a personal preference rather than a critique because im a slut for catharsis and i love sad endings , especially ones where characters die . (don't worry im in therapy)

#ask #anon

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mauesartetc · 10 months

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Hi, I just want to vent: I've gotten huge amounts of backlash for posting my criticisms of Helluva Boss on reddit, especially about Stolas' and Stella's relationship-stating why I think it's a bad depiction of abuse etc. And while I've said things that were insensitive and out of line, I find it very hypocritical that many fans defend Vivziepop to high heaven and act like she's some kinda goddess of writing who can do no wrong.

It's clear to me that many fans are so passionately defensive of the writing because find Stolas and his experiences relatable, and thus they see any criticism of his character and how the abuse is written as a personal attack.

Not gonna mention any names, but I've seen certain people say things that basically dismiss all critics as "immature kids who don't get real mature art like Helluva Boss" and explain the inconsistensies and plot holes with handwaves that while plausible, ignore the rule of "show don't tell". It all feels like ass-kissing and refusing to acknowledge that your fave show has flaws to me.

I really hate the dismissal of any critics as "abuse apologists" when the show itself is terrible at handling the topic of abuse, plays abusive behavior for laughs and depicts things that are toxic as "cute".

I also want to add that some people have justified Stella's one-note personality by saying "real maturity is accepting that sometimes people are just jerks" I find that a shoddy excuse.

I don't believe that any person on the planet is a jerk for no real reason, because real people aren't political strawmen or enemies in a war-propaganda film designed to incite rage and disgust-they have reasons for their actions even if they are disagreeable. To me, the comfortable fantasy is believing that the people who hurt you are evil monsters who only exist to inflict misery, when the truth is that they are their own people with positive and sympathetic qualities like everyone else.

These are my thoughts, I would like to hear yours on what I said.

"Immature kids who don't get real mature art like Helluva Boss"

LMAO okay if that person considers Helluva Boss "mature art", I'm convinced they've never consumed any other media intended for an adult demographic, and therefore have nothing to compare it to. The only time Helluva felt like a show for adults (to me, anyway) was Moxxie and Millie's song in "Ozzie's", where they have the confidence to reaffirm for themselves that they don't need to be kinky to have a fulfilling sex life. That's a message actual adults can relate to and need to hear. But the rest of the show comes off like it was written by edgy teens who think they know how to balance comedy and drama just because they've seen BoJack Horseman. Spoilers- They don't.

You're allowed to like it, you're allowed to think it's a good show overall, but... mature? Is it really? C'mon now.

Here's the thing: When people know they have no argument, they start mischaracterizing their opponent's position so it's easier for them to take the moral high ground. Easier for them to "win". Oh, you're not a fan of this show? You must be an abuse apologist, or a homophobe. They make these claims despite having little to no evidence they're true, just so they can disregard reasonable criticism and retreat to their comfortable little bubble where no one disagrees with them.

And you see this kind of rabid defense whenever someone has developed such an unhealthy attachment to something they like that it's become a vital part of their identity. They feel, at least subconsciously, that any attack on that thing is an attack on them. Why do you think some sports fans throw a fit when their team loses?

This is partly why I feel it's important to criticize media you like in addition to media you don't, understanding that nothing made by human hands will ever be perfect. If you can get some emotional distance from it, you won't get heated every time someone expresses the tiniest beef with it. Because chances are, it might also be a criticism you've made.

But I think at this point it's best to just disengage. If someone's made their mind up on a particular topic, no amount of convincing will change it. Leaving the conversation (or not entering it in the first place) is always an option. Block that subreddit if you have to. If you think they're wrong, let them be wrong. In a few years, they might find some sense of identity outside the stuff they enjoy, or they might not. It's not really your concern. The only real winner in an internet argument is the one who has a life outside of it.

#helluva boss #helluva critical #fandom #ask #chinesegal

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almacambiondaughterofsaleos · 9 months

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Choosing Comedy over Drama, As Seen At The End Of The Harvest Moon Festival

It's been said even though this show has been having tonal issues, but I think where it was becoming noticeable was episode favorite, Harvest Moon Festival.

At the end of the episode where Striker gets away and see him talking on the other line to Stella, who is revealed to have hired him to put a hit on her husband which would be dramatic and foreboding if we didn't see her doing this blatantly in front of them both.

As a result it causes the scene to lose a lot of seriousness and focus on the comedy which again downplays the severe situation that Stolas is in, while also highlighting how much Stella is yearning to have him dead. Also noticeable is that Octavia is wrapped up in her music while Stolas is focusing on reading an imp smut book which again is made to make this more comedic than dramatic.

However, it originally wasn't planned that way and we have Stella by herself while her husband and daughter are closer to one another on he other end. Again good for symbolism regarding her relationship with them. I wish this scene could have been kept because again it helps emphasize the dramatic situation and again show the sinister intent that Stella has for him. But again Vivziepop and the Spindlehorse crew are obsessed more with comedy than getting a balanced tone right as a result you don't feel this situation is serious and just laugh at the fact that she's ordering a hit while everyone is near her but still oblivious.

And again this is another reason why the show is going downhill because it refuses to take seriously in moments that need it. I think we will see more moments and people will find it very jarring to a great extent if it's not addressed (which frankly it will be ignored because Viziepoop does what she wants to do regardless of criticism).

#helluva boss #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #helluva boss critique #story criticism #stella goetia #octavia goetia #stolas goetia

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roachleakage · 8 months

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I really used to enjoy Danny Phantom as a teen, but looking back on the show - especially knowing what we now know about Butch Hartman - I really can't say that it's aged well for me. It certainly has its good points - the villain cast being one of the biggest - but there's a lot about the show that doesn't quite gel, or worse, is so distinctly Hartman that it's hard not to see his smug, manipulative, conservative Christian face all over it.

One of the things that bugs me the most is how the show will exaggerate things to drive a certain ideological point home. Fairly Oddparents does this too, of course, but it's in a setting where the entire tone is zany and comedic, so it's easier to chalk up to Standard Cartoon Logic with a dusting of Hartman's distorted worldview.

Danny Phantom, on the other hand, tries to balance that same level of exaggerated 'comedy' with a genuine amount of drama and Cool Superhero Stuff, and it makes the placement of those exaggerations stick out like a sore thumb. Like the fact that in the first episode Sam's "ultra-recyclo-vegetarianism" means she eats literal dirt, in an episode where we're clearly being led to see vegetarianism as an unbalanced extremist position held by radical hippies who don't understand what a Balanced Diet(TM) is.

I have a lot of feelings about this episode, but they can be summarized with "Sam did nothing wrong." In fact, the only reason the school's decision to try vegetarian food is a "problem" is because they deliberately paints it as disgusting and inedible as possible, using the excuse of Sam's suspiciously vague (but assuredly extreme) dietary label to imply that She Is Really Just That Unhinged. It's a choice that comes off as ignorant as it is mean-spirited, and I'm not even a vegetarian.

Mostly, though, when it comes to delivering morals, the show sticks to a tried-and-true format: A character does something "wrong", the thing has unintended consequences that they end up having to fix, and by the time everything is set back to order they've learned a valuable lesson in why they shouldn't do that.

This is a formula that works well when the consequences of the character's actions make a modicum of sense, or are at least thematically related to the original slip-up. A classic example of this format in action would be The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which has a wizard's apprentice decide to try using magic to do his chores for him, only to learn the hard way that he doesn't have the needed expertise to actually manage the results of his master's spells.

Fairly Oddparents used this formula a lot as well, and to my recollection, it works for the same reason the shenanigans in The Sorcerer's Apprentice do: Timmy isn't just breaking rules, he's messing with reality-altering magic. Of course the consequences are exaggerated and unrealistic. But Danny Phantom tries to use this same format without the benefit of a conveniently generic supernatural plot enabler, and as such, a lot of the "consequences" feel tacked on if not entirely forced.

One of the most glaring examples is in S1E6, when Tucker's idle wish that he shared Danny's ghost powers unwittingly reaches the ears of a genie*, who then grants him exactly what he wants. He then proceeds to use his new powers to do all kinds of petty bullshit, and eventually the wish gets corrupted - not because of what he actually did, mind, but because Desiree's wish-granting just works that way - he turns into a monster and Danny ends up having to turn him back to normal. At the end, Tucker concludes that he messed up by envying Danny's powers, envy is bad, and he's not going to do that anymore.

*Sort of. She's technically a ghost, but works like a genie.

The thing is... none of this really happened because of envy. Tucker wasn't even acting on his feelings at all - he just happened to idly wish he had ghost powers in front of someone who could grant them to him. There are definitely lessons to be learned here, like how it's healthier to articulate your negative feelings than to stew on them until they bubble up and fester, but the show isn't going for any of that low-hanging fruit. No, only the most banal and straightforward Christian values deserve to get shoehorned into this plot.

But perhaps the most egregious example is the introduction of Dan Phantom, Danny's evil future self who is spawned when Danny... decides to cheat on a test. Yes, you read that right - an ordinary childhood mistake, which Danny was tempted to make due to nigh unbearable pressure to keep good grades despite spending most of his time fighting ghosts, is what causes him to start down the path of becoming the most dangerous villain the setting has faced to date.

To be fair, this wasn't delivered as "cheating on tests will send you down a slippery slope to mayhem and murder". No, the reason any of this happens is even more ridiculous: Cheating on the test causes Danny's family to be in a local restaurant during a catastrophic explosion, and wracked with grief by their death, he convinces fellow ghost halfling Vlad to basically tear out his conscience (which he happens to be able to do) and then he tears out Vlad's ghost half, merges with that, and becomes The Worstest Guy Ever, Just So Bad You Guys.

Danny fights the guy and manages to beat him (as you do), and then, scared straight by this vision of what he's capable of becoming, comes clean about having cheated on the test. If this sounds like a Fairly Oddparents plot... yeah, it is, it was a whole two-parter and everything. But more infuriatingly, this entire plot had nothing to do with the actual incident that supposedly kicked it off.

I mean, there certainly can be negative consequences to cheating on tests. For one thing, you might get caught and get in trouble (although that's arguably less a 'consequence' and more 'another person's choice in how to react'). For another, possibly more compelling reason, taking shortcuts on a test can cause you to rob yourself of valuable information that you could have learned by doing things the hard way, and which you might need for an even more crucial situation down the road. But none of those consequences involve turning into a horrible person, even in a grounded, non-cartoony sense.

And frankly... cheating on a school test is really just not that big of a deal. Standardized tests, especially of the type we started using in the wake of the No Child Left Behind act, are fucking terrible at aiding in providing a good education. Which, may I remind you, is what school is actually supposed to be for - not for rating students on how honest and hardworking they are. But, you know, whatever, Butch.

Anyway, this happens a lot. It would legitimately be faster to list the episodes that don't follow this format, at least early on. Sometimes the formula works better than others, though even when it is relatively tame, the "values" that the show keeps trying to impart often leave a bad taste in my mouth. What kid needs to be taught that if they ever hang out with the "popular" kids, they're betraying their real friends? Or that it doesn't matter what other problems they have in their life, they just need to put down the video games and apply themselves and they'll get amazing grades?

Butch Hartman, fundamentally, is a man who has convinced himself he understands children's problems despite all evidence to the contrary. Danny Phantom reflects that both in the way the show grasps at straws to generate moral crises, and the ways it distorts even real moral challenges into distorted caricatures of themselves. I'm not surprised the fanfic scene seems to be 50% fanon at this point - the version of this show that exists outside my fond teenage memories is just not good.

#danny phantom #long post #like I *really* hate to be That Bitch but. this show has fuckin Issues.

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toy-powerhouse · 1 month

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Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Disappointments: A Brutally Honest Review of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is the most disappointing thing since my son… And, my other three sons, my four sons who also happen to be teenage mutant ninja turtles. You know what they say: life imitates art. Much like my dissatisfying sons, I really wanted to like the series when I stumbled across it, but there was so much lacking in its execution that prevented it from reaching its potential (Editor’s Note: okay, Red Letter Media-esque joke over). Before its release in 2018, there were very vocal Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans who were skeptical about Rise of the TMNT and many of the changes the series made to established lore. Raphael is the fearless leader, instead of Leonardo; April is Black American as opposed to white like she is in most iterations; and the series is more comedic in tone, unlike other recent adaptations that have an even balance of comedy and drama. I welcomed all the changes to the TMNT formula, and I was eager to see it. Now that I’ve finally finished watching it, I’m left disappointed with it. Before we jump headfirst into why this series can be dissatisfying, I want to preface this to state that many fans treat this series with a certain level of reverence often to the extent of hyper analyzing it. Here, I’m going to give it that sort of treatment, but this time to analyze its shortcomings as a work of fiction.

Bad Comedy, Worse Drama

The major driving force of RotTMNT is its comedy (that acronym is unfortunately very apt). It’s arguably the most comedy-centric animated television series since the 1987 TMNT show. With comedy being the most important quality of the series, the biggest question then is: is it funny? Even ardent dissenters of the show say it’s somewhat funny. As for myself, I’m a person who can find humor even in media that I may otherwise dislike. I’m a simple kind of gal, if it’s funny, then I’ll laugh. With something like RotTMNT, that I did, initially, like, I’d sit patiently waiting for any of the slapstick or quips to make me laugh. Smiling politely at the screen, just waiting, only for me to not laugh or even chuckle before the end credits rolled. So, what’s the problem? Usually, there’s something off about the humor that stops it from being funny. The character’s expressions are too exaggerated or too subdued, sporadic insertion of weak meta or fourth-wall breaking humor, jokes running contrary to canon events or characterization, gags end too abruptly or continue for too long, poor timing of punchlines, poorly directed line deliveries or less than stellar audio mixing (e.g., characters’ speech being difficult to hear from speaking too quickly or quietly), and so on.

Something else that causes the humor to fall flat on its face, is the overreliance on subpar slapstick comedy with lots of pratfalls while mugging for the camera. Too much of Rise of the TMNT relies heavily on characters making goofy faces and acting buffoonish in place of carefully executed comedic scenarios or witty dialogue. There are many children’s cartoons that largely avoid resorting to overusing such low hanging fruit, so RotTMNT cannot be excused for its limited variety in comedic stylings in a bid to appeal to its young target demographic.

The character that best reflects all this bad comedy is arguably, and ironically, the funniest of the turtles: Donatello (no, why’d it have to be the overrated one). Jokes that tend to land often involve Donnie and his funniness seems to be confirmed in-universe when in Season 1, Episode 16, “Shadow of Evil,” Splinter refers to Donnie as being the “funny one.” Because much of the humor is flawed, many of the jokes or gags with Donnie at the center of them don’t stick their landing. Using Donnie, let’s briefly examine how something like inconsistent characterization can break a joke:

LEO: “And Donnie, where’s your . . . your thing, your – emotionless passion?"

DONNIE: "[Head down, speaks very quietly.] Here."

This joke doesn’t work because “emotionless passion” is not something that accurately describes Donnie. He’s a very emotional lad. Even in the context of this episode, he’s a very emotional lad. The very notion of Donatello being “emotionless” doesn’t make sense as it doesn’t align with his baseline characterization. Case in point:

Yup, baseline Donnie is totally emotionless. Look at all that no emotion.

As a result, what could have been a funny joke, is ruined by clashing with what’s been established about Donnie. Were Donnie a more reserved character, it could have been somewhat chuckle-worthy. As is, it's pretty unfunny. While this is only one example of how the humor is off, it’s still very indicative of this issue. Like, I could go on, but this review is getting long enough, and I get the feeling I’ll need to check on my own unfunny teenage mutant ninja turtle sons soon.

Anyway, the only thing worse than RotTMNT’s comedy is the drama. While the comedy of the series very occasionally has its merits, the dramatic cues virtually all fail. For dramatic points in any form of media to be developed successfully, they need time to be set up. In this series, finer plot points don’t get the opportunity to unfold properly and are mostly shoved into the finales. The rush to introduce new dramatic plot elements and quickly wrap them up really depreciates the value of moments that are meant to be heartfelt or intense. Premature cancellation aside, more could have been done to avoid this problem. If the first season had not wasted so much time with bad comedy, the series could have set up crucial stakes and important characters sooner rather than later. The season two finale is especially guilty of rushed, poorly set up melodrama with how they speedrun introducing a key character like Karai only to send her off before we as an audience really got to know her. Speaking of poor set ups, this segways perfectly into my next segment.

Overly Hyperactive Storytelling and Underbuilt Worldbuilding

A common complaint levied against RotTMNT by critics is how fast paced everything about it is, to the point of being downright incomprehensible at times. From the animation to line delivery, the show is HYPERACTIVE, caps locked and bolded for emphasis. This is especially true for fight and action scenes, where all sense of direction is easily lost by how quickly characters, props, and backgrounds move about. It can become grating having to rewind, pause, or even reduce the playback speed simply to understand what happens. Goodness, even my disappointing and rambunctious teenage mutant ninja turtle sons think this show needs to chill.

I’ve taken to referring to the series as being a “memory vampire.” I can watch an episode and almost immediately forget what I have just seen as if RotTMNT is feeding off my memories like a loathsome parasite. I can recall watching episodes from other TMNT adaptations that I saw nearly a decade ago, I remember even the smallest details with ease. But an episode of Rise of the TMNT that I saw last week: I got nothing. Because it’s so much of a whirlwind of pointless action and bad comedy where very little is usually accomplished. I’ve seen fans make light of how Rise of the TMNT is “ADHD the show,” and while true, it’s definitely not a good thing.

If that weren’t bad enough, we also must contend with careless worldbuilding. That issue of ill-advised worldbuilding being most apparent with the Yōkai and their world, the Hidden City. Possibly one of the greatest missed opportunities of this series is how underutilized and underdeveloped the Yōkai are. Despite their species namesake being lifted from yōkai, supernatural creatures from Japanese mythology and folklore, they lack any significant connection with that very specific lore. Most Yōkai we see in Rise of the TMNT, are generic monsters and anthropomorphized animal beings that don’t appear to have any direct relation to traditional yōkai myth. There’s Big Mama, who is a jorōgumo, a nefarious spider creature who often shapeshifts into a beautiful woman to lure in prey, and maybe Mayhem who could be the show’s take on a komainu or lion-dog, those lion-like dog statues positioned at the entrances of Japanese temples and shrines to act as protectors of hallowed ground.

Aside from Big Mama, Mayhem (maybe), and a few others (including one-offs like the dragon yōkai Boss Bruce and his posse and possibly Tummytello, that could be a take on the parasitic yōkai disease, oseichu), there isn’t much Japanese mythology that influences the portrayal of the Yōkai. As a casual yōkai enjoyer, it’s disappointing to see the crew behind the show not make full use of that rich history through explicit representation. Maybe there were concerns about mishandling Japanese culture, but then why invoke the yōkai name in the first place if cultural insensitivity was a concern? Maybe there are more explicit designs or references to Japanese lore that I’ve forgotten to mention, again this show is a “memory vampire,” but even if that were the case, there’s still too much plausible deniability to it all. Regardless, the Yōkai mostly being a hodgepodge of indeterminate ghoulies is distracting and fails to create a more cohesive, immersive world.

Various yōkai that don't seem to make appearances in RotTMNT. This is just a sample of what could have been.

Collective Characterization: Friendless Losers with Unearned Power (cool band name, idk)

This will be less of an in-depth character analysis as much as this segment is a general overview of how the series approaches two things: the turtles’ status as underdog superheroes and their social support network.

Besides disappointing, another word I would use to describe Rise of the TMNT is unearned. For much of the series, our protagonists tend to bumble about, causing almost as many problems as they resolve. In fact, just about every major problem the turtles encounter, is of their own making; from releasing the oozequitos that mutated the denizens of New York to unleashing the Shredder who has villainous ambitions of conquering the world, just about everything can be blamed on them. These aren’t heroes, they’re troublemaking buffoon clowns. These buffoon clowns ultimately get rewarded time and time again for blundering misdeeds that they fix at the eleventh hour. This especially becomes tiring when it’s all nestled in the series’ ad nauseam lesson: the turtles need to focus and take things seriously. Over and over again it’s the same lesson of “get your (pardon my French) merde together.” I’ve seen fans misguidedly try to spin this as the turtles being lovable cringefail, losers, which may have been the case had the series not tried to portray them very earnestly as the ultimate heroes, without a shred of irony or self-awareness. In that way, the show plays itself too safe and yet not safe enough. Instead of a cynical romp with mutant losers with even looser morals, or well-meaning mutants who try their damndest to achieve their noble goals, we get something awkwardly caught in between, unable to commit to either in a satisfying way.

Being the insufferable screw-ups that they are, it’s not surprising that the turtles lack a support network. Friends, allies, helpful acquaintances, or friendly neighbors; doesn’t matter, because these turtles ain’t really got ‘em. In actuality, the series is more about making fiends then friends as almost every character the turtles encounter becomes an antagonist. For a show that seems to pride itself in presenting more positive bonds between the characters, especially the turtles, it’s a little odd, isn’t it? In this regard, it’s hard not to compare Rise of the TMNT to other iterations, because it appears to be missing something inherent to many other adaptations. That something being the turtles desire to form connections with those outside their family unit and, seemingly against all odds, their ability to do so. A common theme throughout the franchise is their pining for meaningful relationships outside themselves and Splinter and how they manage to forge those relationships with other misfits. Rise of the TMNT has virtually no interest in engaging with this theme and, as a result, is left emptier for it.

While there are a handful of characters who do become allies, or even family members (e.g., the redeemed Baron Draxum), they’re largely kept at arm’s length with their loyalty to the turtles at times being, for lack of a better term, “dunked on.” For instance, in the season one finale, “End Game,” the following allies join April and Splinter to rescue the turds, I mean, turts: Bullhop (legit, forgot that dude existed), Frankenfoot (who deserves better than being a sentient punching bag), S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N (who, mind you, is basically Donnie’s son), and Todd Capybara (Splinter x Todd 5ever, fuck Draxum). Only for the quartet to be “humorously” captured immediately and never brought up again in the episode. RotTMNT is so strangely anti-friend/ally that the only relationships given any real weight are virtually all familial with April herself being upgraded from friend to honorary member of the Hamato clan by the end of the series.

The turtles lack a support system outside themselves and it’s not something they ever angst about or that poorly impacts them, despite how integral social deprivation tends to be for the turtles in other iterations. Even the Micheal Bay produced films portrayed that anxiety around being outcasts as worthy of attention, that the turtles are brutally aware of being misfits and that seeking acceptance from the outside world is important to them. This theme doesn’t need to be the focus of every adaptation. However, its absence in RotTMNT does strip from the characters an extra layer of depth and misses out on an opportunity to make them more relatable to members of the audience, especially those who’ve ever felt alienated.

The Cowabunga Conclusion: Let’s take a moment to enjoy our Hot Soup!

Not all of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is disappointing. There are good aspects of the series. The increased presence of female characters. Big Mama, Cassandra “Casey” Jones, and Sunita (Casey x April x Sunita = Caprisun, the best ship 5ever); I <3 these girls! Casey had the most satisfying, fully realized character arc of the series. The turtles get to be more emotionally vulnerable, which definitely is a welcome change. I love that Raph is a proud lover of plushies and other cute things, that’s so adorable. Mikey is explicitly artsy, and as an artist myself, I really appreciate that. It’s been confirmed by a show writer that Donnie is on the autism spectrum. Right on! Leo is gay (that’s not confirmed, I’m just being facetious). RotTMNT has brought a lot of good to the TMNT table. As a result, it breathed new life into the overall franchise and its fanbase. Post-RotTMNT, the wider TMNT fanbase has experienced a bit of a paradigm shift into becoming a more inclusive, safe space. Honestly, I’d say my return to the fandom was all thanks to RotTMNT and its rejuvenating effect on the franchise.

Nonetheless, the series itself is still a raging migraine. I’m only scratching the surface with this. I plan to explore other failings of this series more in-depth in other posts. Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie… I’m coming for you… I got a bone to pick with how Draxum’s redemption was handled. The turtles’ deus ex machina mystic powers… Atrocious. The merchandise…

Sometimes a picture, of off-model action figures, is worth a thousand words.

I know I’m not the only one who thinks this series fumbled the ball big time. While executive meddling and lack of support from the network certainly contributed to RotTMNT’s downfall, a good deal of the show’s shortcomings cannot be blamed on those factors. Not the execs, not the airing scheduling, not the marketing, not the audience; the show itself is flawed and that in part led to its premature demise.

The series leaves me disappointed. Very disappointed. Like, Splinter is in “Insane in the Mama Train.”

RAPH: “Puppy dog eyes won’t cut it. [Splinter] isn’t mad, he’s disappointed. We need to make it up to him guys big time.”

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go check on my teenage mutant ninja turtle sons. I got a text from the unfunniest one, and it seems like they’ve accidentally doomed the universe like the cringefail losers they are. Oh, well. If they fix their mistake in time, I might treat them to some pizza rolls. Cowabunga, dudes and dudettes! 🐢❤️💙🧡💜🥷

#rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt

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