#Media discussion

[descendant-of-truth]

Shipping is fun and all but I swear every single time someone makes a comment, whether as a joke or in a legitimate analysis, about there being "no other explanation" for a pair's interactions, I lose just a bit more of my sanity

Like, no, you guys don't get it. Romance is not about the Amount of devotion, it's about the COLOR. the FLAVOR of it all. a character can be just as devoted to their platonic friend as they are to their romantic partner, and they don't love either of them more, just differently.

But because the majority of people still have it stuck in their minds that romance exists on the highest tier of love, I'm stuck seeing endless takes that boil down to "these two care about each other too much for it to NOT be romantic" as if that's the core determining factor to how literally any of this works

In conclusion: stop telling me that I don't understand the story if I don't interpret the leads as romantic, I am TIRED

#analysis #meta #miscellaneous #fandom #shipping #media discussion #amatonormativity #lgbtq #I feel like tagging any of the fandoms I was thinking of when writing this would be a little mean-spirited potentially #Disclaimer: no one has actually been telling me personally that I don't understand any story in particular #It's just that the way people tend to phrase their analyses feels unnecessarily targeted at the reader and that's just. not great #even if I agree with every other point they make

[tuurverheydepoetryandprose]

You know, lately I find little joy in reading media discourse. I love media analysis, I studied it, I taught it, but lately I just don’t enjoy reading people’s thoughts like I once did.

It’s not just that media literacy and reading comprehension are in decline, that’s been going on for a while. It’s that so much of media discourse feels like a phantom war, a proxy for something else. It’s not even about the media anymore.

People find one flaw and judge it an irredeemable one so they can dismiss something they were always going to dismiss because of the theme, the subject matter, the person behind it etc. People dismiss a piece of art that is about x for not being about y (people wanting every story to indirectly be about them etc.) People dismiss pieces of art for not condemning their own characters for not being morally virtuous, not condemning their own themes for being limited, not condemning their own creation for being insufficiently radical or revolutionary.

It’s like so many people will just say stuff completely disconnected from the reality of creation under capitalism, completely indifferent to authorial & historical & geographical context, genre, subtext, logistics etc.

It’s not enough to say that a work has flaws and explain why and what that reveals. The flaws must be irredeemable blemishes that besmirch the moral character of the creators and audience. It is not treated as expression. It is treated as a calculated move in the battle of ideas and must be lambasted or praised not on the basis of artistic merit or analytical potential, but on its position within the discourse.

Media & art themselves are seen as allies or enemies to social and political causes and their evaluation is a strategic manoeuvre to gain clout for or against certain causes or ideas.

I just think it’s a shame. All art is political. All analysis is political. But the way interpretation is taking a back seat to propagation is troubling. It decentralises the art and forefronts the viewer, deprioritises questions of meaning over questions political usefulness and salience. Ultimately, it diminishes actual analytical and argumentative skills and massively proliferates bad faith arguments, confirmation bias, rhetorical tricks and propaganda tools.

I think this kind of approach will not work out well, will only lead to more alienation and polarisation, and will ultimately exacerbate the devaluation of any art and any analysis that it is deemed irrelevant to mainstream identity groupings or insignificant to mainstream social and political causes. This will not end well.

If we cannot value art that is not of use to us or about us then we cannot appreciate most of artistic history. If we do not value stories because they ostensibly don’t relate to our own, how can we ever learn to see past difference and choose empathy over antipathy?

This will not end well.

#media analysis #media literacy #interpretation #reading comprehension #analysis #literacy #literary discussion #literary analysis #anti intellectualism #barbie #oppenheimer #barbenheimer #oppenbarbie #discourse #media discourse #media discussion

[enlightenedrobot]

So here’s a project I’ve not advertised at all. No Requests: Live! From the Tavern is an Adult focused Edutainment series focused on discussing Art, Music, and Media. Each episode is broken up into segments that work together in a playlist including various other videos on Youtube. This means Music Videos, short films, and other video essays, curated together with extra commentary from the host of the show, Tavern Barz.

That’s a weird and unnecessarily complicated format, why are you doing this?

It’s really easy in this day and age to use Youtube videos as a replacement for other content. I mean, why watch a two hour movie when you can watch a 20 minute recap? 

This is a bad habit. Critique is important aspect to a good media diet, but a diet consisting solely of critique misses the point completely. In order to talk about media, we must also experience it. 

This format means we don’t directly compete with the art featured. Rather, Tavern Barz acts as a museum curator, and the other media in the playlists serve as the actual art itself. The original videos will get their view, and… as a nice little bonus, I get to avoid the copyright bots.

Why are you using a cartoon?

I mean, I’m an animator. I don’t know what else to tell you. Why does the Chocolate guy use chocolate when clay will last longer?

But also, I don’t really have any desire to host the show as myself. There’s a hundred and ten other Youtubers who will get on camera to talk about stuff, and like, I don’t have the room for that. 

Besides, Tavern is a character distinct from me. As a writer, I have full control over the narrative I want to tell, and placing myself in the center of that just feels weird. Tavern’s allowed to act and be weird and hypocritical. Tavern is allowed to grow as a character in ways you can’t really depict through the lens of literal documentary filmmaking. 

So that Cyclops character isn’t just your rantsona vtuber avatar?

I mean, in a very literal sense, Tavern is a Vtuber. They are a virtual character serving as the host for a real show on Youtube.

But Tavern’s also an OC with lore and a planned Story Arc. The pilot is admittedly pretty bare bones with all this, but I intent to incorporate more story elements as the series goes on.

Alright, so what’s the lore then?

Tavern Barz is the Cycloptic owner of the Tavern Barz Tavern, a fifth dimensional divebar thar exists all across Time and Space. After several eternities of service, Tavern thinks they know it all.

This is not true.

Is this project family friendly?

Not really. The main character is a bartender, so there's a lot of alcohol focus. Plus, a lot of the featured videos will also contain plenty of adult themes.

The pilot is pretty mild. There's some swearing, but nothing too serious. But the non original videos might have adult themes. I have some later episodes planned, including one focused on The Male Gaze, and in those cases, I can't in good conscience recommend these videos to minors.

All in all, I like to call the tone of the project comfortably adult. I'm not going out of my way to be edgy, but I'm also not censoring myself. If this were an actual TV series, it's probably be TV-14. Edgier than the Simpsons, not as edgy as Rick and Morty, so about the level of Futurama.

When will this project release?

April, 2024. As of the time of this writing, the first episode is basically finished except for the credits, but I also need sometime to compile my sources, write descriptions, and make some thumbnails, as well as advertise the project.

Follow Me on this Account if you wanna keep up with the project. You can also see my other links at https://norequestslive.carrd.co/

#no requests #animation #anime #indie animation #Vtuber #animated web series #character design #youtube #artists on tumblr #Tavern Barz #webtoon #original characters #Music #internet #social #web series #video essays #art theory #pbs #gif #popular culture #culture #visual #education #Edutainment #Adult-focused #Art discussion #Music discussion #Media discussion #Museum curator

[verybigvag]

There's been a lot of recent discussion with Angel Dust, his scene Poison, and Its interpretation. I would like to talk about it.

⚠️ Trigger warning for discussion of Sexual Violence/Assault, Abuse, Drug Use, fetishization, and In*c'est mention ⚠️

I would like to start by saying that I wanna be able to have more posts like this and discuss topics both serious and not for media/entertainment here on Tumblr, however, I would like to keep articulate and not too long but that won't be the case here lol.

In Episode 4 of Hazbin Hotel 'Masquerade', there is a musical scene showcasing Angel Dust singing 'Poison' about his trauma and current situation of being sexually abused, and taken advantage of by the porn industry and how he copes with drug addiction, masking himself and relying on his hypersexuality to get through it with the possibility of losing himself to it all and killing him in the end.

While the scene doesn't show his assault outright, it is rather disturbing and obvious imagery of his situation. Back in 2017 there was a music video for a fan song Addict turned soft canon at the time. It was the original showcase for what we will get for Angel dust as a character and his nuances going into the show, as well as the first instances of Valentino taking advantage of him. While the music video isn't as dark as poison, he does an amazing job at just that. Not needed to go so far and yet it's so obvious through the animation.

Now the question I would like to give my opinion on is, Is Poison fetishizing Angel's abuse? In my personal opinion and the show's intention... No.

Poison is a disturbing scene, it's dark and almost uncensored. There's an argument to be made that it's supposed to make you uncomfortable and while that is true, nobody should use that as justification to talk down to victims when they have something to say. I'm a victim myself and frankly, I'm conflicted on how I feel about this. I think the scene does work in the fact that it gives Angel's perspective well what he sees and how he wants others to perceive him. Then we have the fact that the show is presenting that angel situation is something to take seriously but will characters harass others and the occasional r*ape joke. (Sir Pentious in the most recent example)

People are conflicted and at times it's unsure how some perceive this. It's almost whiplash to see SA played for laughs then later in the same episode, we see a character stand up to their abuser and is presented as a triumphant moment, a starting point and Proof he is strong and can make it out and is also protecting his friend, showing he good character traits, someone who cares for other and wants to protect them.

I think people are right to point out its writing issues with its comedy and tone armor and victims have every right to point that out.

There is more to this situation I will get into later in the post that Understandably makes people uncomfortable given the context.

It's almost like a popstar giving a performance, letting their persona out on stage; either Kampy, unapologetically themselves, hypersexual and glamorous. This is very common with mainstream I industry musicians/pop stars.

While it's not the case for every artist, it's well known that most are subjected to sexualization from the audience and media (unless they lean into that hypersexual persona).

Angel Dust is a product of his trauma and environment. With that I don't think the show will actually get into how unethical and exploitative the porn industry is (which I think they should), rather just how Angel is being exploited.

Now whether fans like it or not, your favorite media will be criticized for both warranted and ridiculous reasons.

There seems to be an issue with the stans of Hazbin Hotel and constantly deflecting any criticisms of the show. This isn't the case for all the fans but it's still common, unfortunately.

There are people who don't know what it's like to have a history of sexual violence and grooming, and that's ok. It's something I never want to wish upon anyone. It'll affect you for the rest of your life. Some days are better than others but it's not the same for everyone, and universally Trauma is processed differently. There will be experiences that many can relate to; Hypersexuality being one way, some want to reclaim themselves and disassociate sex from the experience and the feelings of uncleanliness that comes with it.

We don't need others who have an unhealthy attachment to a show to constantly speak over those who disagree with Angel's visual representation of his sexual exploitation/assault. Many have stated they don't have any issue with their scene, AND MANY others disagree and They are BOTH right to feel that way. We don't need fans who are selective with victims and their input on a serious nuanced topic.

The sentiment should be that we shouldn't be speaking over anyone who's been victimized, groomed, assaulted, and experienced similar circumstances. Whether they validate your opinions or not.

I still want to clarify, that it's ok to enjoy dark media. It's ok to enjoy what you want. In my opinion, there is a point where you go past safe consumption to obsession with problematic media that's concerning.

If you want to enjoy Valentino and Go ahead. Villains are popular for a reason and it's easy to enjoy characters who are Kampy yet evil in nature. Merchandise of villains is nothing new so I don't see why it's an issue now (unless it depicts said inappropriate tendencies in a glamorized light)

With that said, there was understandable discomfort knowing the artist who storyboarded poison.

I would go into details here but I recommend you go and read this thread by Uninformed Artist, It goes over everything you need to know but to keep it short, they have a r*ape fetish.

People are free to feel however they want about this, especially since there could be a chance Raphielles may have had interior motives but at the moment we can't say for sure and if so, it was conveyed at all in the scene. personally, It feels disingenuous to claim that they want to take the said topic seriously but aren't considerate of the team representing it.

Speaking of that, I may diverge a bit but I want to give an example...

This reminded me of another similar situation with another animated show; Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

⚠️Incest Warning ⚠️

.

.

.

On Twitter an artist who goes by Sheldon made this below regarding a scene they storyboarded for an episode in season 2 called 'The Lair Games' and yes it did make it into the show.

Sheldon replied to a user who partakes in problematic content

To clarify, TCEST is what people refer to as shipping Any of the Main Brothers; Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, And Michelangelo in the TMNT franchise. Yes, this means romantic/sexual.

There was much discomfort from many fans that was warranted given the implications. While something like this will never be implied for Canon for any TMNT iteration, it's weird knowing there may have been certain intentions from Sheldon.

With that said there was another reply clarifying the original tweet was a joke. I'd personally say it's really weird to make that type of joke in the first place and attract people you don't want to interact with and it's not a funny joke to begin with.

But I sincerely hope it was just a terrible joke in bad taste, That's hope I'm personally going to take it as this was about 2 years ago and the rise of the TMNT has unfortunately ended. Hazbin Hotel, however, is just getting started.

I do wish the best for the show and that it grows into something amazing, along with the writers getting into their element and doing these characters justice and I hope there is a bit more consideration that goes into depicting more serious topics later on.

So, I'm not sure how to end this but here we are. I would like to thank all of you for reading. If you have your input feel free to add on!

Make sure to be kind to each other and stay hydrated 💛💛💛

#hazbin hotel #angel dust #hazbin hotel poison #media analysis #content warning #media discussion #triggering topics #hazbin angel dust

[thefaearealwaysamongyou]

Me n Egg were discussing the quality of spto

I just felt like this was important to share.

#scott pilgrim fandom #scott pilgrim takes off #spto #scott pilgrim versus the world #spvtw #fanfic #fanfiction #media discussion #media quality

[kiichikonoes]

Oh look. Another allegory to Palestine.

#the amount of people posting hunger games content too #and not contemplating #free palestine #free gaza #new years #2024 #atla #media discourse #media discussion #and not realizing

[psychoblush]

Andor - S1E1 "Kassa" - Structural Analysis

This is a written analysis of the plotting and structure of Andor from a screen/TV writing perspective. I'm an aspiring screenwriter studying TV, film, and theater writing in college and this is my pet-project: to examine the way Andor constructs story in order to achieve certain dramaturgical effects. I hope to do similar analyses for the rest of the season as well. Thank you for reading!

This will contain spoilers for all of episode 1, spoilers for the first arc (E1-E3) and mild spoilers for the rest of the season.

Show premise

Petty-thief Cassian Andor is hunted by the Empire while a revolutionary movement coalesces across the galaxy.

Ferrix Arc (S1E1-S1E3)

Stories (Arc-wide)

A-story: When a pursuit for information regarding the whereabouts of his long-lost sister leads to him being a wanted man, petty-thief Cassian Andor is forced to do anything he can to remove himself from the attentions of corporate security, but the ensuing confrontation leads to death and destruction within his community.

B-story: (in flashback) When a mysterious starship de-orbits over Kenari, young Kassa embarks on a quest to prove himself as a capable member of his community, but the confrontation results in the destruction of his community and his abduction by off-world scavengers, never to see his family or his sister again.

C-story: Deputy inspector Syril Karn seeks to prove himself as a capable officer and a force for justice by apprehending the killer, but does so by disregarding his orders and endangering the lives of his comrades.

D-story: When Timm gets jealous of Cassian’s reentry into Bix’s life, the relationship is strained by mutual secrecy and miscommunication, leading to Timm’s death at the hands of a corporate cop.

S1E1 - “Kassa”

dir. Toby Haynes, wri. Tony Gilroy

streamed September 21st, 2022

Stories

A-story: Petty-thief Cassian Andor seeks to lay low and cover his tracks after a fatal shake-down with two corrupt cops leaves him a wanted man, but finds that his community distrusts him after overdrawing one too many favors.

This A-story is very central to the entire episode and with the exception of the B-story, all other stories causally spring from this story and end up relating to it in some way by the end of the arc.

B-story: In flashbacks, young Kassa wants to prove his worth by embarking on a scouting mission with the other “adults”, but abandons his sister in doing so.

The B-story serves both in the arc and the episode as a way to provide an elegate symmetrical structure. There’s a scene in the beginning of the primary action of Cassian’s pursuit after the opening sequence, one in the middle, and one in the very end. At the same time, the flashback serves to articulate some of the internal dysfunctions of the character, even though it takes a few episodes for it to fully manifest.

C-story: Security deputy Syril Karn wants to solve the murder of the two cops to fulfill his vision of justice, but finds that nobody in his organization, especially his boss, wants to help with his pursuit of the killer.

Here, Tony starts to flex his muscles in devising institutional drama and plotting. The main antagonistic force in the story does not operate unimpeded; he instead is faced with his own antagonism that articulates two key themes: 1) the empire stifles the freedom of those that serve it, and 2) fascist societies generate fanaticism regardless of whether or not it advances their cause or helps to maintain the preferred status quo.

D-story: Cassian’s reentry into Bix’s life prompts friction and secrecy between Bix and her romantic/business partner, Timm.

This almost functions as an addendum to the A-story, but gets its own special attention in how it chooses to articulate the Bix/Timm relationship. But it comes to have a direct causal effect on the A-story in subsequent episodes. Infact, the way causality transcends the stories becomes extremely intricate in its own right. Dramatic action becomes an emergent property of these interactions.

Scene sequences

OPENING/CLOSING IMAGES

OPENING IMAGE: Streetlights moving rapidly in the rain; Cassian in pursuit of his sister.

CLOSING IMAGE: After Kassa leaves his sister for the last time, she watches him as he runs away.

1: I./E. BROTHEL, MORLANA ONE - NIGHT (A-STORY)

Cassian enters an upscale brothel in search of his sister. When he receives special attention from the hostess, two on-duty corporate cops start antagonizing him. Cassian gets too pushy in getting information from the hostess, prompting him to get kicked out of the club and his pursuit thwarted.

2: EXT. MORLANA ONE - NIGHT (A-STORY)

Cassian tries to exit discreetly, but is held at gunpoint and shaken down by the two offended corporate cops. They attempt to rob him, but Cassian is able to outwit them, inadvertently killing one of them in the scuffle, and recovering the gun. With the tables now turned, the remaining cop tries to persuade Cassian to spare him, but Cassian kills him to make his escape.

Let’s talk about these two scenes as a sequence, because they function as one discrete unit of storytelling. Andor doesn’t do cold opens - though this sequence could very easily serve as a riveting cold open if they moved the title card to right after this scene. Being a streaming exclusive without commercial breaks, Andor also doesn’t use hard act structure with distinct act outs, even though we’ll come to see Andor as employing techniques similar to traditional TV act structure at times.

In TV writing, we sometimes encounter this idea of cold opens or opening sequences serving as story microcosms. In the sense that the structure and action of the sequence is representative, in a small way, of the way the world we see in the episode, season, and series functions. Andor’s opening sequence has him engage in a seemingly innocuous pursuit, enter a highly dangerous yet extremely familiar situation of power-tripping LEO, and leads him to make a difficult choice to escape the dangerous situation. It’s telling us that this is a world where good people have to make hard choices to survive because of the danger of the society they live in, which we will come to see in subsequent story units, is a racist, fascist, imperialistic, and capitalist society.

3: I./E. FERRIX / MAARVA’S SHIP - MORNING (A-STORY)

An extremely quick scene introducing us to Ferrix before work-hours, B2’s winning personality, and establishes the pretenses for Cassian’s flashbacks in the B-story. 

This isn’t really a real scene because it doesn’t have conflict, it doesn’t have antagonism, and it doesn’t have pursuit. But it serves as a good framing device and orients us to where we are on Ferrix.

4: EXT. KENARI VILLAGE - DAY (B-STORY)

This scene introduces us to Kenari, Cassian’s sister, and Kassa (the young uncontacted version of Cassian). We don’t get much action or context in this scene, but discerning viewers are able to pick up on the fact that this is a society populated solely by children and teenagers wearing and using old industrial equipment. Something very bad clearly happened here. We also see the mysterious ship de-orbiting, and the reaction the community has tells us this isn’t something they’re used to.

The decision to completely eschew subtitles is a pretty fascinating directorial choice and one that has gotten a lot of attention online. But It does a lot to ground the movement solely on the acting and visual language, as opposed to dialogue construction - though arguably it makes the plotting of this story a bit more sparse.

5: INT. MAARVA’S SHIP - DAY (A-STORY)

We get a short scene with Cassian where he starts to formulate a plan. We also get some indication that Cassian has a community on this planet with Bee mentioning Maarva and Brasso. In some ways, Maarva’s the antagonist in this scene because she’s besmirching Cassian to the others, even though she’s not there and it’s coming from Bee.

“Spectral” antagonist: A representation of the antagonistic force in the story by a character who isn’t that main antagonistic force. Bee’s just passing on information from someone else, but in doing so, he’s softly acting as the antagonist for the moment. We see this technique employed a lot in this episode and this show, especially since shows operating in the prestige mode often go entire episodes without main oppositional characters meeting (i.e. Cass and Dedra still haven’t met).

6: EXT. RIX ROAD - DAY (A-STORY)

Cassian convinces Brasso to spin a lie for him, but in doing so, it becomes apparent that Cassian’s sleaziness has overstayed its welcome in the community.

This is when the main sense of antagonism in the episode starts to crystalize for Cassian. Maybe once, his petty crime and hustler antics were overlooked in the community, but those days are coming to an end as Cassian’s options dwindle. That’s the source of danger, more than the possibility that he’ll be caught for the time being.

7: INT. PRE-MOR SECURITY CHIEF’S OFFICE - DAY (C-STORY)

Syril delivers the report of the double-homicide to Chief Hyne - keen on making a good impression and presenting himself as a dutiful officer, but Hyne sees through the bullshit and orders him not to investigate the murder in an effort to sanitize Pre-Mor’s crime reports under Imperial jurisdiction, leading Syril to be incredulous.

This is a great scene. It works wonderfully schematically, the scripting is stellar, and the acting is spot-on. This is the scene where I was truly convinced of what Andor’s storytelling was capable of. Syril comes in with a pursuit (deliver a report) with a deeper motivation (pursuit of justice) which is fueled by dysfunction (he is deeply insecure about his position as an officer and is desperate to please). The pursuit is met with opposition (Hyne has a completely different perspective on justice, being a pragmatist and someone who doesn’t want to rock the ship) and reversal (Hyne orders him to drop the matter and implies he wants to fire him), which leads us with a clear emotional context from Syril (anger and disbelief) which propels him into action (go behind Hyne’s back) for the rest of the story arc. It’s Emmy-worthy writing in a single scene. And it all happens in 3 minutes.

8: I./E. TIMM AND BIX’S SALVAGE SHOP - DAY (A-STORY) / (D-STORY)

Cassian comes in to convince Bix to contact his black-market dealer so he can sell his Starpath unit for a premium, but it generates friction between him and Bix because Bix assumes he’s been undercutting him. When Bix offers to buy it off him, Cassian refuses and convinces her to make the call. Timm expresses resentment for Cassian’s past with Bix - when Cass tries to dissuade his concerns, Timm gets more jealous of the two of them.

This scene’s also a banger. It has a complex shape - the danger is threefold: Cass doesn’t want Bix to know what trouble he’s in, he’s externally threatened by the sense of fear he has over being caught, and neither Bix nor Cass want Timm to discover the extent of their black market side-hustle. Bix is an antagonist to Cass, Timm is an unknowing antagonist to both Cass and Bix, and Timm thinks Cass is his antagonist. It’s great, and from here the causality gets pretty wild.

9. EXT. KENARI VILLAGE - DAY (B-STORY)

Kassa tries to go on the war march by joining in on the face-painting, even though he knows it means abandoning his sister. An older boy tries to stop him from participating, but the older female leader lets him join, prompting him to paint his face the same way she did.

This is a good scene with sparse plotting befitting the style of this story. The antagonistic force is the sense that Kassa should stay with the community and be with his sister, while the pursuit is that Kassa thinks he’s of more service if he leaves with the war party. The two antagonists are his sister and the older boy. Kassa gets what he wants in this scene, like he does in all the scenes this episode. This is because this story functions on an inverted sense of danger: the closer Kassa gets to what he wants, the more dangerous things will be for him. So the stakes are actually higher if his actions aren’t opposed very firmly. His dysfunction drives the story forward, with opposition deferred until it gets extremely bad in the third episode.

10. INT. PRE-MOR CORRIDOR / AIR TRAFFIC OFFICE - DAY (C-STORY)

Two security workers laugh and greet Syril in the hallway - Syril’s awkward response causes him to feel isolated. Syril corners the air traffic controller into reviewing the logs for him, but when the controller expresses apathy over the matter, Syril threatens him into compliance by invoking his authority.

GREAT LITTLE SCENE. It illustrates dysfunction: Syril is lonely, all he has is his job and a black-and-white view of morality and justice. It shows him acting transgressive to get what he wants, specifically by abusing his power over others. And it articulates the antagonism the same as the previous scene with him: what he perceives as laziness and apathy is what keeps him from getting what he wants.

11: EXT. FERRIX BACKALLEY - DAY (A-STORY)

Cassian is cornered and hustled by Nurchi, a local to whom he’s greatly indebted. Nurchi attempts to intimidate him with the help of Vetch, but Cassian is able call Nurchi’s bluff and escape from the situation.

It’s a good scene, really short and sparse. Thing to track here is that the town is becoming increasingly hostile to him and he’s generally unliked by folks.

12: I./E. TIMM AND BIX’S SALVAGE SHOP / FERRIX STREETS - DAY (D-STORY)

Bix is cagey about where she’s headed when Timm asks. Bix leaves, Timm attempts following her but quickly loses her trail when it’s clear Bix knows the streets better than he does.

13: I./E. PAAK WORKSHOP / RADIO TOWER - DAY (A-STORY)

Bix goes to Salman and Wilmon Paak’s workshop, asking to use the radio. Bix radios the buyer to come to Ferrix.

I put this as A-story because this scene has more to do than the previous one with Cass’ situation than the friction emerging between Timm and Bix.

What’s important about this scene is that it clues us into a larger underground network on Ferrix - Salman, Bix, Cass. It's a community where folks otherwise look the other way at this kind of stuff. Otherwise it’s sparse, no conflict, no antagonism.

14. INT. PRE-MOR SECURITY HQ - DAY (C-STORY)

Syril recruits the main security IT staff to help him apprehend the killer, but the staff express a general unwillingness to help him - both because they don’t care and because Syril doesn’t actually possess the authority to sanction an operation like this. Syril bullies the staff into compliance, telling them to put out a notice for the killer on Ferrix, despite the lack of authority Pre-Mor has there.

I like this scene, it plays slightly double-beaty because Syril is employing the same tactics as before on different staffers, but it also establishes it as a pattern. Syril advances unopposed in this story - especially in the context of later events, we know this is because we need to see him get into danger faster. It's another example of inverted danger.

15: EXT. PEGLA’S JUNKYARD - DAY (A-STORY)

Cassian tries rewire the ship he borrowed’s transponder codes, but in trying to justify his actions, pisses off Pegla and tells him he’s no longer welcome to take out favors from him.

This is a pretty lowkey scene, but it’s the closest we get to a crisis/climax moment for Cass in this episode. I’ll talk more about why that is later; it refers specifically to the way Andor modulates story in ways that work distinctly from other TV shows. Still, it has everything a scene should. A pursuit/tactic, opposition, reversal. And those elements push the story forward in more dangerous ways, as we’ll come to see in the next two episodes.

16: EXT. KENARI VILLAGE - DAY (B-STORY)

His sister tries to plead with him to stay, but Kassa leaves with the other war party members - promising to return for his sister.

Yeah, this bookends the episode. The episode begins with Cass in pursuit of his sister, the episode ends with Cass leaving his sister, never to return for her.

What do we hear Bix say of Cass in the last episode? “Cass always comes back.” It’s a gut-punch.

GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS

Andor is a show that functions in a strange and specific way compared to a lot of serialized long-form narrative TV. Andor uses episode as building units to articulate larger discrete units of story within the season. In this sense, Andor’s “pilot episode” (I put this in quotes because most streaming dramas don’t have pilots) isn’t really the first episode, but all three of the episodes in its first season story-arc.

The way I was taught TV, is that all three-act narrative hinges on the elements of set up, play out, and pay off. Andor’s three tri-episode story arcs - which I will call the Ferrix Arc (S1E1-S1E3), the Aldhani Arc (S1E4-S1E6), and the Narkina Arc (S1E8-S1E10) - all hinge on this principle of modular three-act structure. Kassa doesn’t have a typical hard crisis/climax because it isn’t really a complete self-contained episode of TV. I suspect that’s also why the Ferrix Arc was ultimately aired all at one, as opposed to one episode at a time.

Still, Kassa is a strong and capable episode of TV because it demonstrates the strengths of Andor’s storytelling: the principles of causality, dysfunction, and institutional characterization.

causality: the chain of events in story that facilitate and heighten dramatic action in a linear manner. Andor shows us the investigation of the murders that happened in the first sequence - having the action of earlier scenes spiral into increasingly dramatic and complex action in subsequent scenes. The way the D-story with Bix and Timm loops into stuff that happens in the next two episodes is absolutely exquisitely done. Later in the show, the fallout of the Aldhani Arc is central to all of the action that happens in the second half of the season.

dysfunction: a character’s internal dilemma, ideology, or experiential understanding of themselves and the world that makes them operate transgressively within the world of the narrative. This is sometimes a character flaw, but can also be a sense of righteousness that puts them against unjust actors within the narrative. Cassian’s dysfunctions have to do with his desire for self-preservation and an easy payday, Syril’s dysfunctions relate to his inability to live up to his idealized notions of justice, and Timm’s dysfunctions come from the feeling that he can’t be as close to Bix as someone like Cassian can appear to be.

institution: the man-made structures that characters navigate within the story world and define the shape of the narrative. These institutions function as characters in their own right; Pre-Mor has as much of an effect on the narrative as a character like Cassian, as does Ferrix’s tightly knit working class community. And in subsequent episodes, we’ll look closely at how the empire’s administrations and power structures have material effects on the world. This principle is why Syril and Dedra spend much more time fighting their own institutions than fighting Cassian or the rebels. It’s a story about how highly-motivated actors navigate the challenges of their environments; dramaturgical complexity is almost an inevitable emergent property of this paradigm.

This episode and the one following it are among the least-tightly plotted of the season, but there’s still some intricate stuff. There are little moments in scenes where a single line provides an oppositional reversal that redirects the character’s trajectory for the rest of the episode. This isn’t a testament to Kassa’s weakness, it’s an appraisal of how Andor as a whole is a narrative that benefits from emergent complexity. When things go on for longer, more moving parts are in play, the story can move in unpredictable and highly dynamic ways. It’s a staple of prestige TV as a mode and Andor’s first season executes it exquisitely. With that being said, a lot of fans tend to underwrite the first arc of this season. And while I agree that it is personally my least favorite, it’s still really well-done. In the same way Andor has three tri-episode arcs, this is the “set up” one, and it does a lot of heavy lifting that allows the show to play uninhibited in future episodes. Don’t underwrite this one.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if there are any questions about terminology, theory, or just about the show in general, or my interests as a fan and writer.

#andor #andor meta #andor analysis #media analysis #star wars #andor 2022 #cassian andor #rebelcaptain #rogue one #story structure #writing #screenwriting #tv writing #story themes #writing tips #tv analysis #media discussion #media discourse #andor review

[jadethest0ne]

You mentioned not liking how Mikey and Leo’s arcs are usually handled and trying to make something more suited in your once human au. I was curious what you do/don’t like about the all the brother’s arcs in general.

Oooh that is a good question actually... I think the simplest way to explain my issue with any of the character arcs in the TMNT franchise as a whole is that - I like my TMNT media to give equal narrative weight and screentime to all turtles, and my issues with Mikey and Leo's arcs boil down to the fact that Mikey is often side-lined and given no character arc and Leo is focused on way too much to the point that it gets tiresome and overdone.

And that's probably why I like Donnie and Raph so much because they do get fairly balanced moments of growth and screentime in most versions that they appear in.

It's sad to me that one of the few versions that I've seen so far that gives equal screentime to each character is TMNT 1987. Which is a fun version, don't get me wrong, but since the story itself is moreso geared towards villain-of-the-week type scenarios, there's not necessarily "arcs" for the characters that much. So it's frustrating to me that other versions, which do give deeper development to the turtles, don't do so equally. It somewhat defeats the purpose to me of the TMNT as a team, as a family, if they don't grow together.

That's the TL;DR of it, but for more character-specific info, read on:

So, let's break down each character and what I like/don't like about their arcs. I'm gonna go in (rough) order of who I think gets the most attention by the writers/creators, from least to most.

Michelangelo

It is unfortunate to me that Mikey seems to get sidelined the most. I haven't seen a TMNT version yet that gives him an actual arc (granted, I haven't seen ALL versions all the way through, but this is a general observation I have). He seems to be relegated to "comic relief" or "baby brother" in a lot of versions. I love him, don't get me wrong, but what I'd love to see in any version is maybe that wide-eyed optimism, friendliness, and jokester attitude challenged in a real way by the plot or by some villain. I think you could really get something deep with that, and I think such an arc would work well for his character. The closest I've seen to Mikey getting some deeper development is the original Mirage comics and Rise of the TMNT, but even then, I feel like the focus often stays on the other three. The one positive part of what he does seem to do for the narrative as a whole, is it often seems like he's the glue that holds the group together. When things get dark, Mikey is there to brighten things up in his own way. This boy deserves more love and attention by the writers on a whole!

Donatello

Donnie is another one to often get pushed to the side a bit and fills the niche "brainy/techy" role. However, his character is often less of a "joke" than Mikey is sometimes made out to be. He gets a lot of good moments in a lot of versions. He's given a lot of angst as well (looking at you 2003). The amount of screentime he gets seems to be largely dependent on the version. I believe the 2007 movie barely gave him any lines/scenes, but then you've got '87, '03, and Rise that gives him TONS of awesome standalone episodes. The main thing I'd change for him, is the same thing with Mikey and that is that this guy needs a bigger plot role as well and an actual character arc. He almost gets one in Rise of the TMNT - and I think it's a good one about feeling more self-worth, getting deserved recognition, and also allowing his emotions to show beyond his "bad boy" facade. Unfortunately, even in Rise, I feel like some of his growth is overshadowed by Raph's and Leo's (and Splinter's, too, actually) (side-note, kudos to Rottmnt for actually giving Splinter a character arc).

Raphael

Out of all of the turtles, I believe Raphael has the best balance when it comes to screentime, focus episodes, and character growth throughout ALL versions. A lot of versions give Raph the growth of having to overcome his anger and attitude, and allow him to work more cohesively with his brothers. I'm a personal sucker for the "tough on the outside, soft on the inside" character trope, and Raph is basically this to a T in most incarnations. I like it when his arc is often allowing that soft side of himself to show and allowing him to have a closer connection to his brothers and the people around him. As well as allowing him to be less angry at not just others, but also at himself. It's a solid character arc in my opinion, and one that doesn't take away from the others around him, but instead enhances them because his arc is often how he treats/works with others. Rise gives him a different version of that - he needs to work with others better, not because he's too tough, quite the opposite in fact, but because he needs to learn to trust his family just as his family trusts him. He needs to learn to let go more, which I think is a similar, yet unique facet to his character and I appreciate Rise for that. I have very little negatives to say about any Raphael arc. He could stand to hit Mikey less in '03 and '12 tho. That bugs me to no end, but is a frustration for a different time.

Leonardo

Ah yes, the golden child. The favored son. The one everyone (both inside and outside the narrative) likes. In fact, that's exactly what bothers me about Leonardo. Leonardo is pretty much ALWAYS given a huge arc that ties in with the main plotlines of the story, and it almost always is tied to his role as the leader. I feel like lots of versions of Leo give him the leader role and make him the "best/most skillful" ninja without him earning that title. He just is. He's the "eldest" son. He's just good at what he does. He's just Splinter's favorite. And I think there's something wrong with that when they're supposed to be a family and it kind of sucks to see the narrative, and by proxy, Splinter, play favorites. And often the narrative seems to present Leo's judgement on things as correct, even when sometimes he's wrong. But because he's the LEADER it's presented by the narrative that he is almost always right. It feels like the writers have to create a conflict that Leo needs to overcome or a decision that he has to make, and decide from the get-go that he's going to make the right decision, without really figuring out the nuances of said conflict first. So to me, a lot of his "leadership arc" falls flat, because I feel like he is written as Leader first and Character second. So it's a similar frustration to me with Mikey's (lack of) character growth - his role in the group/narrative is what defines him more than his actual personality. Rise of the TMNT is the only one where I feel like his growth was actually earned, and that is because he was starting from a much lower point. He needed to learn responsibility and heroism in a way that other Leos just have from the get-go. I could actually see Rise-Leo being leader because that growth was set up - not just his leader-like qualities, but also his skills with his weapons, and his ability to plan. I'd like to see more of that from Leo rather than just a guy that we're supposed to respect from the very beginning, just because the narrative says so.

So there you have it, my general take on character arcs in TMNT. I feel like what might help this sort of unbalanced narrative issue that TMNT has is maybe do something like what Ducktales 2017 or Teen Titans did - and that is give each character their own focus-season. In both DT and TT, each main character got sort of a season to themself that focused on them and followed their general arc. You could do something similar with TMNT - give each turtle their own season. And idk, if it goes further than four seasons, then idk give April, or Splinter, or Casey their own focus season, or one that ties everyone together for a big send-off. That's one idea. Either that or actually just plan out an equal-ish number of episodes and plot threads for each turtle.

Overall, my issue is with the balancing rather than the arcs themselves.

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #media discussion #media discourse #character arcs #long post #essay #michelangelo #donatello #raphael #leonardo #jade rambles #jade talks #ask #jadethest0ne

[angelofthepage]

Hey gang, let's talk about Bendy: The Cage. Last night we got a new screenshot from theMeatly's Twitter page involving an eyeball, pointy teeth, and a lot of red, something monstrous. And the first exposure I had to it was numerous Discord servers posting it in channels that were either likely to be unmuted because they contain important updates about said servers, or with an at everyone so everyone would be notified and have to click on the channel to clear the message. And it was all in spaces that normally haven't done this for new screenshots or releases, which was very odd. I had no choice but to look at it because it was shoved directly in my face, uncensored, no content warnings, nada. If it hadn't happened MULTIPLE times (on more than just Discord in the end), maybe I would leave it at addressing it in just those spaces, but the frequency and variety of places where it happened makes me feel like this is something we're not on the same page about. I think there's a conversation that needs to happen about The Cage and what this is going to mean for the future of interacting in this fandom. There are some things with both the contents of The Cage and the way we choose to engage with it that I feel we would benefit from talking about.

This screenshot itself isn't particularly bad, I won't lie, at the very least it doesn't squick me out all that much, but it's creeping up on something that I foresee being a problem. When we talk about indie mascot horror games, one of the unintended consequences is that because the cute mascots have such a charming appeal, they attract a wide variety of people. Some of those people are kids (many of which have parents that aren't teaching them internet safety or looking at what they watch, even though the original Bendy is rated T for Teens, so they shouldn't be looking at it in the first place). And some of those people are people across all age ranges that have their sensitivities, phobias, legitimate triggers, and squicks, and this group is the one I'm the most focused on today. One of the things that's special about this genre is that a lot of people can exist in it because it's usually a little less intense in terms of horror media out there (at least in terms of visuals/what is shown on screen), but that also comes with a variety of consequences. With The Cage making a shift into being a more mature story, with confirmed blood, body horror, dark themes, etc, that means that part of Bendy's existing audience is not going to be able to partake in this adventure, just per the nature of it containing things they can't handle. And that's not a bad thing, there is no shame in that. We cannot help our brains, not every experience or game is going to work for every person. Nor are the devs required to make every entry the same as the last, if they want to experiment with new things, they have every right to. But when you make a shift like this, it means the content warnings have to change and adapt, and how you conduct yourself online now has a lot more questions you might wanna ask yourself.

What is safe and fun and enjoyable for one Bendy fan is not going to be that for every Bendy fan, and if we don't make an adjustment to how we tag and share this stuff, it's going to further alienate people, to the point where you will see people leave the fandom altogether even if they still like the old but not the new. That's why we tag stuff with things like gore, blood, body horror, etc, that's why we use the sensitive content filter on Twitter. That's why we have words you can mute or censor here on Tumblr, and even on Instagram and Tiktok to a certain extent. By giving people a tag that's a content/spoiler warning, you give them a choice about whether or not they look at that content so they can self curate and protect themselves. Because the last thing you want is to send someone into a panic attack or spiral if it could have been avoided. If someone can't trust you to be thoughtful about how you post when you are posting legitimately horrifying stuff, the end result is you will be unfollowed/blocked, your servers will become a lot more empty, and your fandom space will grow a lot quieter, as it has become an actively hostile place. You can make the choice to not tag that sort of thing, if you're okay with acknowledging that people can't partake in your page, but it's responsible to give them a heads up somewhere, somehow, that you don't use those tags, so they can just unfollow you from the start and avoid the hassle, part on good terms at least. Again, being considerate goes a long way. Managing expectations is just as important of a skill as self curating. That said, tagging to be sensitive of others also comes with the plus side of essentially advertising to people that like that stuff. It will give them a sign that you are sharing things they enjoy, because they likely follow those tags, so they will find you, and you can have new and fun interactions over a shared interest. And that is very worthwhile.

Part of me is worried about what The Cage is going to look like in a broader sense. Just how "mature" is it really going to be? And is that going to have consequences in more than just the fandom? Take a look at YouTube, the platform that was crucial for Bendy's success in the first place ala let's plays and reaction videos putting it on the map. Look at how their algorithms have affected other titles in the horror genre that are openly gorey, bloody, brutal, or disturbing. Heck, look outside of the horror genre at games that are just plain violent. A lot of those videos don't survive. There's demonetization, age restrictions, there's messiness with the system, and a lot of people who try to cover those games will stop because of how hard it affects their channels. I'm concerned for the future of Bendy. I'm surprised that the filters let stuff like the ending of BATDR through, given we push Wilson into a grinder and have Audrey brutally get her legs chomped off. (Frankly I'm also surprised the "insanity ending" made it through, though that's not bloody, it was certainly uncomfortable to watch and was not the greatest example of how to execute a psychiatric ward in a horror game. Which is a whole tangential topic for another day.) But now that we're doing something as small as introducing the color red into the mix? It may not be as forgiving. We may see people unable/unwilling to cover Bendy content because of how dark and unfriendly it's getting for YouTube's system. SuperHorrorBro has a great video that goes over it from about a year ago, I'm gonna link it here. Highly recommend giving that a watch. Bendy can get away with a lot because it's in sepia. When all your blood is ink, somehow it doesn't seem as brutal, even though we have characters getting impaled, decapitated, etc. But that's not the case anymore, there is confirmed blood and red in the palette. It's not the same flavor of horror as it once was.

There's a lot running through my mind as we approach the future of this series. I don't want to police anyone's behavior or how they should do things, that's not my place nor my intention. At the end of the day, everything I've said here is more to make you aware so you think about how you want to handle this shift, rather than explicitly telling you what to do about it. Equip you with information and stuff to consider when making those choices. Would I prefer it if we all were thoughtful about the tagging system? Yes, absolutely. I could stand to be better about it too, and I'm going to make an effort to be more thoughtful about how I post and engage with social media regarding topics like this. I would greatly appreciate having an open dialogue about it so we can figure out which tags work best for our fandom space. But do I expect us all to use it the same way? No, not in the slightest. The fact that I am still required to go on a social media hiatus whenever new Bendy media comes out is telling enough, I don't trust this fandom not to spoil things. I'll acknowledge it's gotten a lot better than it used to be, but when I'm still hearing stories about how people tried to enjoy BATDR blind and got spoiled on MAJOR PLOT POINTS in the first WEEK of release, nay, the first DAY, despite blocking and muting every tag and word possible to avoid stuff, it's not good. So how can I trust fans to take care with this larger, more serious thing, when we haven't gotten to that point with spoiler tagging? It makes me upset. I'm not upset that I have to self curate, that's essential on the internet no matter your space. Can't control anyone but yourself in life. I'm upset that people are inconsiderate and don't think about the consequences of their actions.

I don't talk about this often, but I'm not a traditional horror fan. Bendy is my weird exception. For most of my life I've been scared of the Tower of Terror at Disney, and that's freaking TAME. This last time I went, I tried to conquer my fear and go on it, and I only got through it because I was actively looking away and covering my ears during the story, and holding my brother in law's hand. Is it really scary, or am I just struggling with the childhood trauma of having gone on the ride the same day there was a thunderstorm? I don't know. But then I'll be fine watching something like the FNAF movie, which I'll be real, I didn't find scary in the slightest. So why am I into Bendy if horror isn't usually my vibe? Because Bendy is more than its horror. It's got a really cool art style that sucked me in. It's got a story about humanity and hope that was just the right amount of darkness when I needed it. You know that comic that makes the rounds about the story blimps that pull you out of dark places? That's Bendy for me. It's not the story I expected to get into, but it's the story I needed when it happened, and I've continued to stick with it because it's kept giving me that. The last book? That's the story I needed, absolutely. And in a strange twist, I've found myself seeking out more of the less intense horror stuff, this genre is something I've started to really enjoy. The darkness can be kind of fun. But The Cage may be going somewhere I cannot go. I hope not, but I recognize it's a very real possibility, for myself and for many fans. It's fine if it's not the same as what we love about Bendy in years past. It's not required to be the same as other Bendy entries to be valid or valuable as a game/story. Heck, I don't want it to be exactly the same, that gets stale, let there be new and interesting innovations in the series. Let it tell new stories. But it does make me wonder if what I value about Bendy is the same as what the devs value in this series.

And that's something I want to revisit in the future. Full disclosure, I've been trying to write a comprehensive post about my thoughts on the Bendy movie that's been announced for WEEKS since the announcement. Seeing as theMeatly very directly asked for feedback, I do have feedback I'd like to give. But figuring out how to give it thoughtfully has been tough. 'Cause like, the people who work on this thing are people, humans, who have feelings, and if I'm really going to put my thoughts out there, regardless of what they are, I want to do it in a way that's kind. Like, if I'm gonna take the time to be constructive in my criticism, I want it to be worded well. And then Tumblr screwed me over by posting it before I was ready, even though I clearly hit save and not post. So I deleted it in a panic, because it wasn't ready to be seen, and haven't found the energy to talk about it since. But I've had a lot of complicated feelings about the direction Bendy is taking right now. The short of it is that it's gotten away from what I think are the most important things about Bendy, which to be clear, doesn't make it bad. But it does leave me with questions, about Bendy and about storytelling as a whole. And if you know me, you know I occasionally enjoy diving into questions to really ponder the possibilities. I'm curious as to what it is that appeals about this story to the wider fandom, versus what about it is valuable to me. Maybe I'm the outlier here, who knows? I want to really think about that, what it is that makes Bendy special, what it is that draws us to this story, and what people have gotten out of it. Because I think that's a valuable discussion to have. Perhaps that's something I ought to open the floor to you for. But not right this moment, I need more time.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Thank you for taking a moment to think about what I had to say. I know it's long, I know it's a lot, and I wouldn't say it if I didn't think it was valuable to talk about. At the end of the day, I just want this fandom to be a kind and friendly place to be. I hope that's what gets across.

#bendy the cage #bendy #batdr #dark themes #storytelling #horror #body horror #gore #blood #mature themes #self curating #sensitivitiy warnings #media discussion #indie mascot horror

[lunityviruz]

As a child/teen I was able to watch Steven Universe and think "Oh, Pink Diamond did some bad things when she was younger but I can tell it was because she grew up in an abusive/bad 'household' and that isn't an excuse for what she did but it is an important factor for me to remember as the TV show/movie progresses. It's also important for me to remember that the TV show, shows her character development in reverse!"

Too bad pathetic adults up here couldn't understand that🤗

#rants n rambles #pink diamond #rose quartz #like it was so fucking simple #yall get handed a morally grey character and freak the fuck out #and forget that it's literally just fiction #also misogyny plays into this as well bc you niggas would hop skip and jump for a morally grey man #steven universe #media discussion

[creation-help]

It would be great if characters experiencing psychosis or other derealization symptoms would be portrayed more respectfully and kindly in media and characters. It would be great if it wasn't always to make the character seem threatening, scary or "deranged". As someone who experiences unreality due to trauma often, it's actually much more scary to be on the receiving end of it. I'm not the only one in our family who's struggled with this, and it's more heartbreaking to witness than anything. It's heartbreaking having to see a loved one demonized by their peers and the rest of our extended family bc of psychotic symptoms and hallucinations. To be treated like a rabid animal or inherently untrustworthy

Also for the uninitiated, PSYCHOPATH IS NOT A THING. SOCIOPATH IS NOT A THING. PSYCHOSIS MEANS A STATE IN WHICH THE PERSON EXPERIENCING IT CANNOT DIFFERENTIATE WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT ISN'T. IT CAN INCLUDE HALLUCINATIONS, FALSE BELIEFS AND PARANOIA. IT DOES NOT MAKE SOMEONE VIOLENT OR DANGEROUS, OR MORE PRONE TO HURTING PEOPLE.

This applies to so many other "less popular" mental illnesses and disorders and I'd just love it if it was portrayed as more normal in media and not always given to violent or antagonistic characters. Or to make it seem like someone is "Kooky" and "losing it". If you're explaining shitty behavior on mental illness symptoms that's pretty damn insulting to mentally ill people. Don't fucking interact if you still label people psychos or think mental illness makes people abuse others.

On an additional note, it'd also be good if people with anger issues, regardless of if they stem from mental illness or not, would be portrayed kindly and respectfully

(Neurodivergent (<-includes schizophrenia, psychosis and other cluster b disorders) people are welcome to add on or correct me on the terminology used, neurotypicals and everyone else stay respectful, this isn't about you)

#Harmful tropes #Ableism in media #Ableism #Mental illness #Psychosis #Schizophrenia #Media discussion

[descendant-of-truth]

I probably don't need to post this but just in case anyone was wondering where I stood on the matter: I am very firm in my opinion that it's not okay to morally judge someone solely for what media they like. Yes, even THAT media I'm sure you just thought of as the exception.

Here's the thing. Not everything I'm a fan of adheres to my moral code - sometimes to the extent that I find scenes in them pretty repulsive. But that's not a contradiction to my morals because, amazingly, enjoying media isn't a moral action. You can't hurt someone by liking something.

I also don't think that spending money on that thing you like is a moral action, either. It's totally fine if you don't want to support a creator because you disagree with their stance on something important, but it's unfair to enforce that same standard onto everyone else who just wants a keychain or something. You can't hurt someone by owning media or merchandise, either.

I don't care if that thing you like has stuff in it that's misogynistic, or racist, or transphobic. I DO care if you're actually being any of those things to Real People, in Real Life.

For as much as people denounce cringe culture online, there always seems to be that one exception where they've decided "THIS one is too far, though." And because everyone has a different standard for what counts as "too far," nothing actually changes, and people still feel like they have to be ashamed of liking the things they do in order to be a Good Person.

But being a good person has nothing to do with how much shame you feel. It has everything to do with how you treat others, and policing random people on what you've personally decided is unacceptable to enjoy isn't what I'd call a good way to treat others.

Anyway, I just wanted to get that out there, partly for my own catharsis and partly for anyone who maybe needed to hear it right now. Keep on liking the stuff you like, and block anyone who tries to make you feel bad for it

#miscellaneous #fandom #analysis #meta #cringe culture #anti cringe culture #media discussion #cringe culture tw #I don't actually wanna tag this as any of the fandoms I've seen be given this treatment #because this isn't at all what people are going into those tags for

[matt0044]

"Modern" is a right wing dog whistle in media discourse.

It always tries to be coy about it but we should all know the truth.

#fandom #fandom nonsense #fandom discourse #dog whistle #old vs new #media discourse #media discussion #storytelling #television #movies #cinema #conservatives #reactionaries #youtubers

[crystaljuice]

dark skinned characters from purposefully diverse cartoons in the 70s: exist

the modern remake: allow me to shed some lightskin on the subject

#SERIOYSLY why does this happen with like. every one? #Sesame Street #the magic school bus #babysitters club #media discourse #media discussion #art #light skin #dark skin #diversity #cartoons #modern remakes #diversity exists everywhere #ethics #race #black representation #representation matters #poc representation #media representation #dark skin representation #etc idk what other tags this really should have??

[clay-person]

I see alot of discussion about avatar right now and I want to make one thing clear about the original show, it doesn't have filler. avatar the last airbender is an extremely tightly written show and legitimately has very few wasted moments let alone any whole episodes. Character moments and development aren't filler, most of the jokes in the show actually have purposes that range from character development to important moments of brevity to literally reinforcing the themes of the show. It's not filler when scenes don't directly advance the plot. I Also just think the term filler itself is way over used in an honestly what see to be a damaging way to how media is discussed but that's a post for another time.

The reason I bring this up is because people keep saying the filler In the original show was actually good and that the new show is bad for cutting it out. And your wrong your basically lying. I can understand why someone would say that a show like steven universe or amphibia has filler (they don't*) but I don't understand saying avatar does when literally every episode advances the plot, avatar Is in The truest sense all killer no filler so stop saying it has any.

#discussion #avatar #avatar the last airbender #atla #anime #cartoon #animation #filler #media discussion #media literacy

[sassygwaine]

it has occurred to me that i need to craft a villain…

what fun and/or interesting and/or fucked up things do you think makes a compelling/interesting/engaging villain?

#also less interested in what people dislike. what do you LOOOVE TO SEE #any genre any type of villain/antagonist #my context is specifically magic serial killer and i have some building blocks #but i want to flesh this puppy out as much as i do my leads… #writing #villain #antagonist #writing discussion #media discussion #please reblog #please reply