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sminny-wew · 1 year

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Why people are excited over Princess Elise’s (brief) return

Short answer: the new design/art style that Sonic Channel gave her looks nice and she’s being treated with as much dignity as the rest of the Sonic cast for the first time since Sonic 06′s release nearly 17 years ago

Long answer:

Every year, Sonic Channel (the official Japanese website for Sonic the Hedgehog) puts out character illustrations for each month. Sometimes it’s just art of the character posing, sometimes they’re actually doing something (Sonic celebrating his birthday, Amy walking in the rain, Cream going trick-or-treating, etc.). For 2023, Sonic Channel is posting a specific themed series of artwork called “Isekai Ogiri” that depicts two characters in silly, non-canon scenarios; part of the appeal of these illustrations is that one of the two characters in each artwork is voted for by fans. So far we’ve seen Gadget (AKA Buddy AKA the custom character from Sonic Forces) confessing his love to an Egg Pawn in a scene straight out of a slice-of-life anime, Shadow and Infinite as rival idol musicians, a cutely-dressed Blaze visiting fortune teller Amy, Tikal and Chaos running their own pizza place, and most recently as of this post, Silver the figure-skating coach and his student Elise. (I’m linking back to the original SC pages b/c they put out a message on their official Twitter urging people to link back to the original SC pages/tweets, otherwise they might be inclined to stop making this art; if you want to understand the little stories that come with each illustration, I’m afraid you’ll have to put up with janky Google Translate translations.)

So, yeah, Princess Elise of notorious Sonic 06 infamy, the one video game journalists always seem eager to remind you kissed a dead anthropomorphic hedgehog, recently appeared in one of these illustrations. And people lost their minds, but this time, with excitement.

But if Princess Elise was/is so despised, why do people seem genuinely excited to see her now?

Well there’s 2 reasons for that: 1) the way in which she was drawn, and 2) the fact that she was even a contender to appear in this art series in the first place

1) Human characters appearing in the Sonic series has always been a source of discourse among fans. Some, like myself, enjoy seeing humans coexist alongside a cast of furries, robots, and other assorted beings; others believe there shouldn’t be any humans (except Eggman) in Sonic at all. They’ve been variously depicted as realistic people (Sonic 06) and with more cartoonish Pixar-esque proportions (Sonic Unleashed). From my perspective, what seemed to make people dislike Elise’s original design was that in addition to looking out-of-place next to the cartoony Sonic (people often say that she looks like she belongs in Final Fantasy), her facial expressions were quite bland and difficult to read. While I would argue that Sonic and his friends also had very little facial expression in 06, it’s much easier to notice with Elise (and to a lesser degree, 06 Eggman) due to her more realistic face. It evokes a feeling in some people known as the Uncanny Valley. In the Isekai Ogiri’s April illustration, Elise is depicted in a new style that leans more towards cartoony; some have compared it to Puyo Puyo, others have said she resembles the humans from Balan Wonderworld. Either way, most fans, at least those on Twitter and Tumblr, have praised Elise’s new “look” because her new proportions (large head and hands, big eyes that are easier to read) make her more closely fit in with other Sonic characters. She feels less like a Final Fantasy character and more like a Sonic character.

(With that said, not everyone was automatically bothered by Elise’s realistic 06 design because human beings do not perceive everything in the exact same way b/c art is subjective)

2) Part of how Elise even wound up in this illustration is not just because people wanted to see her again, but because Sonic Team themselves decided to treat her with dignity by making her an option to vote for. And she was up against Merlina from Sonic and the Black Knight, a well-regarded character among fans and one of the few female villains in the entire series!! The poll they were in for the April pic was very close!!

During the late 2000s following Sonic 06′s release, Silver had his fanbase, but a lot of people still viewed him as annoying, and it took several years of game reappearances for him to become a less divisive character (my source: I’ve been a Sonic fan with internet access since ~2003, the way he’s depicted in the Sonic Paradox shorts is actually what a lot of people thought of him at the time). Also, he was still an anthropomorphic Sonic animal, so naturally people would be quicker to accept him as part of the cast.

But Elise? The human? While I doubt she was originally intended to be a recurring character, even if 06 WAS supposed to be a reboot, her portrayal in that game was so widely despised by critics and fans alike that she was thereafter relegated to rare cameos (like being on a collectible card in Sonic Rivals 2) and jokes at her expense (in LEGO Dimensions, when Sonic interacts with Lumpy Space Princess, he says, “Last time I met a princess, I...we...you know, I don't quite remember, never mind!” in a hurried and embarrassed voice). Elise is hardly the only notoriously-disliked Sonic character, but because she only appeared in one game in a non-playable role (I’m not counting the stages where Sonic carries her), her biggest positive accomplishments--unlocking her cell herself instead of waiting for Sonic to save her, jumping from Eggman’s ship with zero hesitation, and reviving Sonic--are often overshadowed by the moments where she just stands there praying, gets kidnapped, and kisses a dead hedgehog just in case you forgot for the 17th year in a row, leading people to view her as an inherently bad character. Because she is also a girl, and video games were and still are a largely male-dominated culture loaded with toxic masculinity, it’d be ignorant to say the vitriol towards Elise wasn’t charged with sexism and misogyny on some level.

But as an aspiring writer and someone who hates wasted character potential, my personal opinion is that characters, SPECIFICALLY in ongoing franchises like Sonic, are not inherently bad, it’s the ways in which they’re USED that can make them LOOK good or bad, and they don’t deserve to be locked away forever all because of one bad interpretation. But unlike Silver who has been in multiple games since 06 (or even Mephiles, who was added to the Sonic Forces mobile game last year as an unlockable character), Elise has only ever had 06. Thus, people only have that one interpretation of her to go off of, because not everyone obsessively rewrites her in their headcanons or hunts down fan fiction where Elise is characterized with actual effort.

And like I said, I don’t think Elise was created with longevity in mind, but it’s specifically because critics and fans alike continue to beat this dead horse that you have people like me saying “What if she came back tho”

Compare the hate Elise gets to the Deadly Six, characters whose debut game was not seen as quite a colossal failure as 06 but still had a story that was almost universally panned, particularly in regards to its character writing. While the Deadly Six (or just Zavok) have yet to appear in a game written by Ian Flynn, they’ve been recurring characters in the IDW Sonic comics and, while still pretty universally disliked, have been regarded by some fans as being tolerable in the comics due to how Flynn utilizes them there. (I wrote a whole other post speculating about the Deadly Six’s characterization in IDW if you feel like reading that lol.) In this sense, the current Sonic writers are genuinely trying to make even the most undesired characters palatable for the audience. I think it’ll be a long while before most people fully warm up to the D6, but the intent is there.

Meaning that the same could hypothetically be done for Elise, if this illustration is any indication that SEGA is beginning to wholeheartedly embrace their past, even the ugly parts

I’m not expecting anything huge from this, and I don’t expect her to suddenly become a major recurring character, because this illustration is nothing more than Sonic Team testing the waters to see how people react to them unironically including Elise in non-canon material. But look at all the fan art people are drawing of Elise in her skating outfit. Look at how fans are reacting. If, sometime after this, Elise were to appear in even a minor role in the IDW comics, in this new art style, with Ian Flynn, Evan Stanley, or even a guest writer like Daniel Barnes at the helm, I would welcome it with open arms, because I trust them to handle Princess Elise’s character with genuine investment and care.

(But until then I have my own ideas that I’m a bit hesitant to share for.....reasons~)

#sonic the hedgehog #princess elise #princess elise the third #princess elise iii #sonelise #tagging for as much visibility as possible #essay #wrote this up the other day when I was bursting with energy

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star-keepr · 10 months

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The Jon headcanons because I have been inspired by @chaotic-tired-bastard and @owlhari and my brain is going whirrrrrrrrrrrrr :]

-gives kisses to everyone platonically. in an older vid you can see him do this to Upgrade and I'd like to think it's one of his ways of showing affection

-love language is mostly physical touch and sometimes gift giving, he likes doodling and anything crafty/colorful

-this is one Owlhari brings up in their vid of the bots and disorders, but I also like to think The Jon has an extremely overactive and vast imagination, often imagining himself as the characters the band sings about and daydreaming in his freetime. these adventures can often be seen leaking into his songs and other mediums

-ADORES birds. no crazy reason either, he just thinks they're pretty and wishes he could fly like one. some of his favorites are robins, kingfishers, parakeets/parrots, doves, and bluejays, and if you catch him in a good mood he can be heard whistling like birds

-loves making all sorts of forts and structures out of the silly things in his room. his room is rather large and filled with curious objects and way too many pillows. he obviously takes advantage of this.

-will not go anywhere without the appropriate feather in his hat. he has one for every occasion, and I mean *every* occasion. he screams like he's naked if he's caught without a feather and will refuse to go anywhere if one is not chosen. he is very particular about them.

-kind of blunt with what he says. it's not really implied that he realizes this, but that means he'll be honest with you even if it comes with some brutal observations. he doesn't quite understand you're not supposed to do that because he was told honesty was part of being polite.

-while his siblings are much heavier than the average human, Jon is lighter due to the void in his chest. he uses this to his advantage as it means he can interact more physically with humans (with their say-so usually)

-his art/writing style is very scribbly and childlike, with lots of swirls and colors

-adores any warm colors (red, yellow, orange, bronze)

-constantly gets into shenanigans, especially with Rabbit and Hatchworth

-Upgrade is like a twin sister to him, whenever she's on a royal tyrant streak she'll always be merciful with Jon in return for some origami figurines

-one of Jon's favorite aesthetics is art-deco, much like how he was designed

-Jon's favorite era is the 1920's-50's, as he adores the fashion, colors, toys, and items from that time. he is also really good at swing dancing, and often likes to play old records just to practice it. a partner is always welcomed ;}

-loves learning about (preferably colorful) animals in books/documentaries made by like natgeo and such. loves trying to impersonate David Attenborough

-clumsy but in an endearing way (clumsy but in a /silly /pos way yk)

-absolutely melts at compliments, especially ones that revolve around the buzzwords "victorian" and "doll"

-when outside, Jon is the type of person (or thing,,,,,?) to make daisy chains/crowns, oogle at butterflies, make wishes on dandelions, and name literally every bird just by its chirp

-adores cartoons and/or anything animated, the only exception being the Marx Brothers' movies in which he idolizes Harpo Marx for being such a cartoony role model

-often finds it difficult to fully express how he feels, this can lead to over/under exaggeration, frustration, getting caught up on words or sentences, or taking conversation breaks to sort out his head

-his favorite story/animation is Alice in Wonderland in all of its iterations. loves playing the Mad Hatter if his siblings ever get around to acting the stories out in their freetime

-often feels like he's a burden because of how high maintenance/jumpy/bubbly he is. because of this he has a hard time opening up about things in fear that he'll just weigh someone down even more

-loves the occasional ponytail or wacky hairstyle. he finds it difficult to do the styles himself with his range and type of motion, but will gladly accept if a human/fellow walter worker is willing to help out

-sucker for good harmonies

-envies Rabbit's art, he likes all the shapely swoops and swirls it has

-definitely the naiive one of the bunch. often worries much more than he should about small things but has learned to tone that down a little in favor of being all upbeat and silly

#the jon spg #steam powered giraffe #spg headcanons #spg #spgiraffe #headcanon #brainrot

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spongebob-connoisseur · 1 year

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Not gonna lie but l actually love Modern SpongeBob (Seasons 9-13) than Old SpongeBob. Don't get me wrong, l love both Old and Modern SpongeBob. But seasons 9 - 13 are much more interesting and have a much better animation/art style. The art style is much more cartoony and colorful.

Tbh I get that. I really enjoy the modern seasons of sb. They're equally tied with the classic seasons in my heart. I know that's like a sin amongst sb fans but its true! Its so fun and colorful and you can see that there is a lot of love put into it. It might not always be so strong writing wise but I still adore it. I feel like nowadays cartoony cartoons have gone out of style hence why there's so much vitriol when a show is silly and light hearted.

Go anywhere online and say you like the current show, people would act like there's something wrong with you in the head. They can't conceive that you can just like something for fun. They act like you're an idiot for enjoying something so silly and light hearted. There always has to be some cynicism, angst or some serialized drama to it. Which I do very much enjoy very much but I also like this and I feel like they both have much to offer. I also feel like cartoons in general are SUPER underrated. Unless it proves itself to be "deep" then it nobody cares for it. They think silly expressions or wacky movements means its for only children (and ignoring the fact that drawing those things are actually VERY difficult, I prefer doing realism but I struggle HARD to get down the wacky expressions spongebob does on a regular basis! It takes skill!)

I also like a lot of what the newer seasons have to offer. People always go on "modern spongebob tortures squidward too much" "modern Spongebob made patrick into a jerk" and they refer to an episode that came out 10-15 years ago lol. Its really discrediting a lot of what the show has to offer. They made Patrick much more nicer in recent episodes and he willingly stands up for Spongebob when he gets pushed around. Squidward torture rarely happens. The show constantly experiments and has amazing art all around. I feel like a lot of that gets ignored. Gosh I really wish it got acknowledged more! Season 13 has been pretty experimental I've been really enjoying it.

You know what's funny? The modern seasons get so much hate because its not ""hillenburg"" and it doesn't have the old writers even tho Hillenburg technically never left. He was Executive producer and gave his ok on scripts and episodes. He wasn't as actively involved as he was in the first 3 seasons but he wasn't fully gone. AND he returned around season 9. He vowed to work as long as his health allowed him and so season 13 is the only season he hasn't worked on BUT he trusted the show to the current crew which is mostly made up of the same folks who made the first 3 seasons. Literally you can pull up a modern episode and there's always someone who worked on the first 3 seasons. Obviously they aren't going to produce the same things they made almost 25 years ago but you can tell they're doing their best. Its rare to get the same thing that clicked 20ish years ago but they should be free to experiment and do something new too. Spongebob has always changed and adapted for the times. Most people don't even notice that each season is different from each other. Season 1 is wildly different from season 3 for example.

Anyways classic and modern have a special place in my heart for the same reason. They're both massively comforting to me and I can put on either and they'd make a bad day feel so much better <3

Also Classic Spongebob and Modern Spongebob would be besties. Don't believe the art work of classic sponge hating his modern counterpart. They'd get along SO well.

#Djinarocks #Sorry this is late but yeah #the spongebob connoisseur #spongebob #spongebob squarepants #sb #spongebon squarepants #spongebob meme #Ask

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mliter · 1 year

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Hi-Fi Rush.

Revealed during some showcase Xbox was having that day, this surprised literally everyone when we learned that it was available right at that moment. No marketing. Any nay-sayers were immidately shut up because the game was right there to play. It was a real ballsy move.

Due to how Forspoken soured any attempt at comedic writing in video games around the time, i immediately turned off the trailer for this game the moment i heard "Yup, that's me." My attitude would quickly change after pressing the play button by accident again.

I had an extra code for 2 months of Xbox game pass (christ this is a good service) & downloaded it when it was available. Immidately starting the game, i'm introduced with a well animated intro cutscene that seamlessly transitions to the beautiful cel shaded visuals.

At this point, i realized that everything in the world is synced to the beat. the player character's footsteps, his jump (if you can time it right) and almost everything working in the background. After stepping out, i truly recognized how much style this game got.

For one, the character design & art. Look at this!

Everyone's has a look that i would see at 6:00 PM on Teletoon. Everything that happens makes me think of something that would be written by man of action. Makes me think of Slugterra. Storm Hawks. This type of Disney XD Awesomeness character design is distinct and it blew my mind to see it return in such a fashion. I don't see it that often and i hope this inspires more to look into it. I know it did so for me.

The presentation is some of the most consistent and high quality i've seen in a video game. I felt the same wonder i felt seeing the Lego Movie for the first time while running through this. The animation, both 2D and 3D is outstanding. Hi-Fi Rush likes to flip between the two on a dime, without warning. The cartoony artstyle and how they utilize it is exceptional. Radical color changes, motion lines, visible effects straight out of a comic book, expressions that snap on a dime, allowing for gags to be easily pulled off with little use for realism logic. The cutscenes like to jump to an fps of 24 to keep it up. The sound effects and things that happen within them are all to the beat. There is an insane amount of detail and polish here. This is a playable cartoon, through and through. There's very little to break the illusion they're selling you. There's even animation of both Chai and 808 messing around as you transition to the other part of battle. They don't have to do that, but they did. There's so much love in this project. I see the vision and you will as well. I played the entirety of this just in awe of what i was looking at. This is what happens when you let creatives just. go wild.

As RANK10YGO put it, everything about this game feels like a can of Fanta on a hot summer day.

The combat is masterful. I hear that people that were involved in some of the greatest character action games were on this project. You've got parrying, movement, and allies that you can swap in to extend combos and disarm specific enemies. The combat isn't really deep, but good lord is it fun. Also, take all of that and put it to the beat of the music.

Exciting camera work, explosive effects, an energetic UI, voice acting that gives everyone life, everything on the screen is moving. All to the beat of Shuichi Kobori's glorious compositions. This is the exact stuff my mind dreams up of when i space off.

The boss fights are absolutely jaw dropping by the way. You think it's gonna go the way you think it is, but it doesn't. It's something different every time, some of them aren't even fights!

Even after finishing off the great story, i unlocked some extra features and a postgame that encouraged me to play again on harder difficulties. Character customization, a model viewer with a wealth of character information & a music player was immediately available to me. Most AAA games like to lock that content behind DLC or pre order bonuses. I thought i was missing out on not getting the deluxe edition. but i felt like i wasn't. The game isnt really that long as well.

It's clear that this game was designed with fun in mind. Profits probably came second, but Tango Gameworks clearly wanted to create something fun and memorable. This is a title that i would've seen in 2010. Not 2023. I had not one bad experience going through this title. It felt like there was absolutely no corporate meddling, nothing holding the team back as they developed it. This shit is what dreams are made of. It's been years since i've been taken in and enamored by a video game like this. I had so much fun. I love Hi-Fi Rush with all of my heart. I'll never forget this.

#game log #top 10 #hi fi rush #best of 2023

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raidenfanclub · 1 year

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Here's a list of things I've been obsessed with at one point or another/still am obsessed with

inspired by a post made by my bitc*-as*s-sister @deargodhelpmeaaaaaaaaa

this is like in order of when I was obsessed, going from elementary school to today (late high school)

There's so many lmao- the ones showed above are like the most impactful interests I've had- I've liked other things, they just didn't rewrite my goofy brain like all these did

ok explanation time

Pokemon- absolutely loved these games as a kid. I gaslit my older sister into thinking pokemon were real when we were really young. Almost my entire elementary school life was defined by this series and I adore all my pokemon plushies.

FNAF- ok so my sister liked it, so then I liked it. Our neighborhood friend and us had a whole club centered around the characters and we kinned assigned ourselves with all the animatronics. I was Mangle/Foxy btw.

Zelda- Probably one of the most influential games of my entire life. I played through so many of them in the later part of my elementary school years and cherished my toon Link plushie. I literally considered myself ThE gIrL lInK and pretended I was him. Breath of the Wild came out when I was deeply obsessed with the games and also when I was having an extremely awful time in my life. Botw may have unironically saved me. This series is a cornerstone to my identity.

Undertale- My sister liked it, so then I did too. Me, her, and her best friend, kin assigned ourselves characters without knowing what kinning was. I was temmie and muffet btw. I loved this game- then hated it because thats what was considered cool. But nowadays I just love it because its truly an amazing game and I dont care about its fandom reputation anymore.

(ima mention mincraft- even tho its not listed- minecraft was another cornerstone of my happiness and identity)

Hatsune Miku (and just vocaloid in general)- another "my sister liked it, so then I did" i liked the characters and the music. Me and my sister went to an event for the Miku expo one time, and it was so much fun. (it was an event where everybody drew miku and itd be scanned for the "Blue Star" music video, i remember it vividly) was an amazing time. I still like some vocaloid songs and love miku. Some of my school friends say I'm the real hatsune miku because I own a miku cosplay lol.

Splatoon- Everybody in middle school knew me as the girl with the squid bag and zelda jacket. I adored splatoon with the release of splatoon 2. I played it with my friends, I played it on my own, I made big deals out of splatfest (to the point where my parents were like "oh its splatfest? that's ur favorite!!) this game also really pushed me into becoming an artist. I would spend hours trying to recreate the artstyle and for like 2 years, all i ever drew was splatoon art. Another cornerstone series like Zelda.

Persona- oh no another cornerstone of my identity series... I look back at these games very critically and nowadays am not a huge fan of the writing choices. But in middle school, when I first played these games- omg they made me a better person because of how much I wanted to be like the protagonists. I wanted to be a reliable friend like them, so I worked really hard to try and become a better person. Despite the problems in the writing, these games really did help me- also they were my introduction to shin megami tensei) I should also note, THE ART! Playing persona encouraged me to shift my cartoony splatoon style into a more semi-realistic anime style like persona. My art improved monumentally from how much I studied Soejima's illustrations. It really inspired me.

Evangelion- I actually read the manga first. I reread it a bunch because covid started up and I had it checked out from the library. We couldnt return them with covid restrictions so I just reread them a bunch. Then I eventually watched the show and just loved it. I got my sister into it a year after I did, and we made a tradition of watching End of Evangelion once a month. Also a major influence on how I view writing and my artstyle.

Shin Megami Tensei- OK ANOTHER CORNERSTONE BUT these games made me realize the depth video games can have. Even though some of the games are really on the noise with their themes- games like Nocturne and Strange Journey blew me away with their creativity. I have so much to say about this series but I will keep it concise and say that this may be my all time favorite series (though its a close contender with Metal Gear)

JoJo- First off, I adore the art so much. But my friend encouraged me and my sister to watch it, we really enjoyed binging the series- and then I read the rest of the manga (SBR MY BELOVED). But i think why i especially love jojo is the friends I made from it, I joined the Fandom wiki community (and although it had its toxicity) I met one of my best friends there and had so much fun drawing things for my online buddies and chatting. Im not on the wiki anymore, but i still talk to some friends from it- and I still really enjoy the series itself PART 9 IS SO FUN SO FAR!!

Monster Hunter- really mh rise, I havent gotten to playing the other games (YET) but me and my sister play thsi game together, its awesome, I love the monsters, I got really good at drawing dragons because I would constantly draw the creatures from this series. I own the mh world artbook and that thing has got to be the best artbook ever- its my bible.

NieR/Drakengard- the same friend who recommended jojo to me recommended nier to me (he's such a real one, absolute bestie) We were gonna play replicant together but he got grounded so he let me experience it on my own. And I adored replicant, it was so fun to play with zero expectation of what it was. the Nier games may have my favorite sort of aesthetic but also I love its characters and its writing. Of course, when I got into Nier I went and played Drakengard also!!! Me and my sister played all these games together (tho she didnt play replicant with me, she just walked in on the most crucial plot points) But we played Drakengard 3 together, (ultimate sister bonding experience) and even though drakengard 3 IS SO FLAWED, we had a lot of fun. The Final Boss (which took me 3 weeks to beat btw) was so much fun for us (i still refight it sometimes) ... We of course played Drakengard 1, we spent $130 to get it actually, played it all (i suffered thru obtaining ending E) and we though it was awesome. Still havent played Drakengard 2 yet, but one day. I love this series for its writing, characters, aesthetics, and being able to discuss it with my evil sister.

Genshin- i dont wanna talk about it. I played it with friends, made me happy to become closer to ppl by playing it. I like some of the characters. ok bye...

Metal Gear Solid- My sister says I had the ultimate character arc by going from being obsessed with Genshin to being a die-hard Metal Gear Fan. I played all the games in late 2022, and it's probably the most brainrot I have ever experienced for a series- absolutely a cornerstone series. Everything about it is just awesome. I could go on for hours. I HAVE GONE ON FOR HOURS (to my poor friends) I literally made my tumblr just to look at metal gear fanart. The games inspired me to finally get better at drawing realism, and some of my most iconic art has come from my fanart for the games. I love my friends in the fanbase too, its awesome. I think about Metal Gear every single day. Never missed a dose of my metal gear fangirlling pills.

Silent Hill- My sister and I were playing sh2 together, then didnt play it for 6 months, and then I played the entire game without her (sorry maddy) Im still going through the 1st game and have the 3rd one in my backlog- but the atmosphere and psycological horror in these games is everything to me. The creature design and lighting choices have inspired my art, and I think about these games all the time. The latter half of sh2 actually terrified me a bit, and horror games dont really scare me.

Resident Evil- I have no idea how I got into the games but I played re4 over winter break this year, and realllly liked it- I adore Leon and I don't care what anybody else claims, HE IS MY MAN. But after re4 I played re2r and re7, and I just love the gameplay and the characters. Even if the games are really goofy and not really scary (I have balls of steel, re7 didnt scare me, but i loved the tension) But i love the goofiness and how campy they are. Me and my sister played re5 together and made a bunch of silly jokes- making resident evil multiplayer was the best decision ever. I can't wait to play the rest of the series.

Trigun- My most recent obsession (although it coincides with my silent hill and resident evil hyperfixations), I had first watched the show like 3 years ago- REALLLY LIKED IT- but didnt finish the anime. And then never touched it until I saw stampede's first episode. I went a watched the 1998 anime and read the manga. I can't describe how much this series has come to mean to me and it literally won't leave my head. I don't like stampede. I love the animation but I just can't. It's a-ok if your a fan, i genuinely see the appeal but you'll only catch me talking about it if its either about peak quality animation or a 3-hour rant about my problems with the writing. THE ORIGINAL SERIES HOWEVER! means the world to me. I reread volume 10 like 6 times and cried eachtime. My friend explains things to me in "trigun" terminology" as a joke when we have personal conversations. I love trigun so much.

Ok there's def more things I really enjoy, like Nijisanji, Ghost-n-pals, Chainsaw man, Death Stranding, Honkai Impact, Sailor Moon,,, the list goes on. But Everything I wrote essays about are my most physically obvious obsessions

Nijisanji actually deserves its own paragraph but im tired lol.

#really long essay sorry lol #mgs #re #undertale #i dont really know how to tag this so im just gonna not #im kinda cringe guys #raidenfanclub

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captmickey · 2 years

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So what you do you think of RtMI's art style?

A can of worms ya opening up here, dear anon. Considering the uh... extremely split view of the new style, so I'll just put it like this.

Short answer: I love it and find it absolutely adorable. It grew on me, what can I say?

Long answer... under readmore because BOY DO I HAVE THOUGHTS ON THE ART STYLE.

I'm gonna be totally honest, it took me a minute to get adjusted to the art style, but after seeing it in movement and seeing Guybrush looking like, well, Guybrush, I quickly fell head over heels for it. I told it to others but the style reminds me of a storybook which is very fitting since the game is supposedly taking place between MI2 and MI3, and Guybrush is telling the missing story... why shouldn't it look like a story book?

And look at it, it's adorable!

It's for sure different, it's simplistic, but also... it's Monkey Island. I don't know how to explain it, but seeing it has me go "Yeah, that there is Monkey Island", something about it gives me vibes of Curse and it might be the vibrant colors, the wacky designs, and the fact that is very cartoony. I absolutely love it. It took me a minute to get around to it, but the more I look at it, the more happy I am. Because I can look at these characters and go "Yes! That's them!"

Plus like.... look how cute Elaine is. She's adorable and I love her so much it hurts.

Now, I know that people want "the actual look" but like... what actual look? Fucking pixels? It's aggravating to me because Monkey Island has always been a game that changed its look ala Legend of Zelda or Final Fantasy, always evolving and updating its graphic with each new computer (SMI and MI2 was 16bit to photoscan, Curse as straight up 2D and EMI and ToMI were both evolved 3D).

So like, yes, the art style is different then what we're used to, true, but again, Monkey Island has never been known for consistency in terms of art style because of said evolution, a change of graphics and style is always jarring, I won't deny it, but like every style, it grows and finds its place and I think people aren't giving it the chance to shine. Pixels art is fine, but Monkey Island has never been a game to retread graphically OR artistically.

Like... look at this.

That's all Elaine, but she's in six different "looks" and everyone knows that that's her. Same here, it's a different "look", but these two pictures are of the same goober.

That's still Guybrush! As long as his voice and his wit is the same, they can have him look like a muppet for all I care because that's still Guybrush Threepwood to me.

Hearing people bitch (because that's what it is: people bitching) about it "not looking like Monkey Island" have clearly never been fans of Monkey Island. Because if they were, they should have seen this shit coming a mile away. People are entitled to not like a style, I know a few people (myself included), that aren't fans of Escape's look, some didn't like Tales, God knows SO many people laughed at SMI:SE Guybrush's hair, there's always something that someone isn't going to like, and if that includes Return's new look, then sure, you're entitled to not like it, that is VALID.

What is NOT valid, and people should feel humiliated and laughed at into the sun, is fucking harassing Ron Gilbert and the team about it. That golden rule we're taught when we're children? Got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all? Fucking applicable here. If you don't like Return's look, that's on you, but don't go around being a fucking clown saying how it's the worst thing ever and then throw in personal threats at the goddamn team.

In short: Love the style, hate the fans who are being whiny little fucking bitches who don't know how to behave like reasonable adults and anyone that comes here to be shits will catch the block button, I don't care.

#monkey island #I HAVE THOUGHTS #SOOO MANY THOUGHTS

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anisecandy · 2 years

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I pretty much forgot about it, but I was looking through my notes and got reminded of a scenario I wrote for a short, simple DougLock comic (divided into frame-by-frame dialogue and descriptions). Since at the moment I don’t think I’ll be drawing it anytime soon... I thought I might as well share it with you?

(warning: I dunno how to write Doug, so here he kiiiinda talks as if it was still 80′s. Because I have no idea how to modernize his speech pattern from the New Mutants in a way that would be in character)

Calm scenery in front of the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. Douglas and Warlock are positioned under a tree. Doug is sitting leaning against the trunk, with his arms behind his head, while Warlock lies down on his belly, legs crossed at the ankles, head supported by his hands. Both boys look perfectly pleased with themselves and the world at large.

Doug: /stretching/ There’s nothing I like better than going on adventures and delivering some good butt-kicking, but once in a while a break also doesn’t hurt.

Warlock: /observing Dough with one eye, while the other one is focused on a butterfly/ Affirmative.

Doug: /looks down on the other boy with an endeared smile, his arms on the ground, pushing his body a bit to the front/ Well, that’s not entirely true, I suppose there actually is something I do like better!

Warlock: /looks back at him, his expression curious/ Statement is uncharacteristic for Selfsoulfriendoug. Query: what would such a thing be?

Doug: /laughs, bumping Warlock’s shoulder with his fist/ Hanging out with my best pal of course!

Warlock: /becoming all smiles/ The sentiment is reciprocated!

Boys sit for a while in comfortable silence, Doug eyes Warlock with a smile, as his hands thoughtlessly play with a picked up flower. Warlock notices some birds in the sky and tries mimicking their tweeting. (two or so frames)

Doug: /with a slight blush, handing Warlock the flower/ Hey, Lock… Could you close your eyes for a second?

Warlock: /taking the flower and draining it out of the life energy/ Query?

Close up on Doug’s face, his eyes are bashfully looking down, and his cheeks are tinted red. He doesn’t exactly appear embarrassed, maybe a bit shy, but there’s a sense of comfort to his expression.

Doug: There’s something I’d like to do. It won’t be any sort of mean prank, I promise

Warlock: /somewhat offended, closing his eyes immediately/ Self wouldn’t expect such action from Selfriend!

Doug: Aw, I’m glad I have your trust!

As Warlock stays still, Doug slowly leans in closer.

Doug, his expression extremely gentle, kisses Warlock,

after doing which, he leans back with the widest, most infatuated smile.

As Doug notices that Warlock has stayed unmoved, his appearance changes to more of a confused one.

Doug: Lock? You can open your eyes now

Warlock: Further clarification of the action’s purpose requested?

Doug: Huh? I thought… You don’t know what a kiss is?

Warlock: Negative! Self’s observations allowed self to confirm the kissaction’s double purpose as that of a greeting, as performed by Selfriendani and Selfriendrachne, or thanks as performed by damselentities in television. /extends two of his fingers to illustrate his point/ And self didn’t do anything that would request thanking.

Doug: I… uh, yeah, I guess, those can be true as well…

Doug: /grabs Warlock’s hand/ …But kissing somebody on the lips is a thing you do when you want to say… That you love them

This frame is smaller, and drawn in more cartoony style

Warlock: Observation: Selfriendbobby must love a lot of people.

Doug: No- Well- Sometimes people do it because it just feels nice as well-

Doug: /crossing his arms/ Still, the main purpose is to show affection

Warlock: /off frame/ Self understands!

Doug: /looks back at him, with an overjoyed smile/ You do?!

Warlock: /sitting up/ Affirmative!

Warlock places his hands on Doug's face, who covers them with his own. Doug’s expression returns back to that of quiet endearment.

Slam! Warlock basically smashes Doug’s face with his own!

Warlock: Kisssmoochmwah! /not as an onomatopoeia but spoken words/

Boys part, Doug looks absolutely shocked.

Warlock: /with great joy/ Self is thankful for the lesson in human custom!

Warlock: !

In the distance, Danielle is walking by, which doesn’t go unnoticed by Warlock, who energetically gets up, set on putting his new knowledge to good use.

Doug: /too absorbed with holding his bruised nose and lips to notice for now/ Ow-!

Warlock: Selfriendani! Self shall show you self’s appreciation of your person!

Doug: Lock…? Wait, you’re not going to-

/off the frame/ Slam! Smooo- Slap! Dani: Just what do you think you’re doing?!

Doug: …oh boy

#douglock #selfsoulfriends #warlock #doug ramsey #new mutants #warlock marvel #cypher #cypher marvel #x-men #short scenario

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scottwbeattie · 1 year

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Review: The Flash: Rebirth

A Good Attempt at Fixing the Title That Doesn't Work for Me

There is no one in the comics industry who is better than Geoff Johns when it comes to taking convoluted continuity and streamlining it into something that is exciting and readable for both newer and long-time readers. This is why he's consistently been one of the most commercially successful comics writers of the modern era. The list of characters that he's revived for DC is staggering: Teen Titans, the Justice Society, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Aquaman. All of these titles were languishing before he turned them around with his magic touch. He actually did this for the Flash once before in the early 2000's, but after Barry Allen returned in Final Crisis, Johns also came back to the title to hopefully kick-start a new era for the Scarlet Speedster. Was he successful? It depends on what you're looking for.

While I admire, on a technical level, the way that Johns is able to massage decades of continuity into one clean narrative, I can't say that I enjoy The Flash: Rebirth. The problem is that the story essentially double-downs on many of the elements of The Flash that I personally don't like: the tendency to try to make the Speed Force more complex than necessary and the fact that, honestly, there are just too many speedsters in the DC Universe.

I realize that the latter may be a point of contention for a lot of fans (and I say this as someone who also likes Johnny and Jesse Quick, Max Mercury, etc.), but nine is simply too many. The Flash family is not a police force like the Green Lantern Corps (and even then there are way too many human GLs) and they only operate in Central City and Hub City, so there's no need for so many of them. Johns tries to make use of all nine in order to stop Thawne's plan, but it ends up ringing false, because it feels like Johns had to massively overpower Thawne in order to justify using the entire Flash family. Obviously, a lot of people were not happy about the New 52, particularly the way that Wally was basically erased, but comparing it with the pre-Flashpoint Flash family demonstrates how much cleaner having only one Flash* makes the DC Universe.

Likewise, I also was not a fan of the way in which Johns expanded the Speed Force. To me, the Speed Force is at its best when it's a fairly simple plot device for explaining the Flash's powers ala the Force in Star Wars. When writers try to overcomplicate it, as many have both before and after Johns, it just comes across as a bunch of pseudo-scientific bullshit.

Although the A-plot of The Flash: Rebirth didn’t work for me, the book does shine during the smaller moments, particularly the interactions between characters. Barry Allen isn’t the most dynamic character in the DC universe, but his everyman persona works well in contrast with the bigger personalities of Hal Jordan. Further, his love for Iris, as written by Johns, is both sweet and relatable. One other advantage of Johns’ cinematic storytelling style (especially his use of splash and double-splash pages) is that even when the narrative isn’t working, you still get a lot of really cool moments.

In order to trade in on the success of Green Lantern: Rebirth, Johns’ collaborator from that book, Ethan van Sciver, also provides the art for The Flash: Rebirth. Van Sciver is hated by large portions of the comics internet, which makes it difficult to have any kind of discussion involving him, but if you look at his artwork purely as art, then he is a very good storyteller. Although he works in the same post-Image school as others like Tony S. Daniel, Ed Benes, David Fitch, and Jason Fabok, van Sciver’s fundamentals are much stronger than most of the artists in that school. He has dynamic but clear layouts and his anatomy doesn’t fall in and out of proportion. That said, I don’t really think he’s the best choice for a Flash artist, which, in my mind, needs a more cartoony aesthetic.**

Ultimately, there’s a reason why The Flash: Rebirth doesn’t have the staying power that many of Johns’ other projects do. While the creative team is obviously capable, and Johns knows the Flash as well as anyone, there are just a lot narrative elements that really don’t work. Personally, I tend to believe that Flash stories are often at their best when they tell something very simple, and when you try to stretch them in order to make an event comic, you can see all the cracks and seams. It’s worth noting that, Johns’ first arc on the relaunched Flash title that followed this, The Dastardly Death of the Rogues, was excellent. While The Flash: Rebirth isn’t a great story, if you think of it as a necessary step to get Barry Allen back as the Flash, then it was worthwhile…..but it’s also entirely skippable.

*-Yes, Bart Allen was also in the New 52, but he was in the Teen Titans and had literally no interaction and never appeared in the main Flash title.

**-In my mind, Francis Manapul was the perfect Flash artist. Now that I think of it, I’d also love to see R.B. Silva’s or Mahmud Asrar’s take.

#comics #comic review #2000s comics #flash #the flash #barry allen #wally west #johnny quick #jesse quick #max mercury #bart allen #iris west #geoff johns #ethan van sciver #dc comics #dc #reverse flash

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historyhermann · 1 year

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D4DJ Review

D4DJ is music anime directed by Seiji Mizushima. It is part of a Japanese music media franchise of the same name, standing for Dig Delight Direct Drive DJ, consisting of live performances, a rhythm game, a standalone episode, and more. The series, which began airing in 2020, currently has two seasons. This post will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the twenty-first article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on January 30, 2023.

The plot of D4DJ's first season, also known as D4DJ First Mix, revolves around an idolish DJ unit at Yoba Academy which plays a mix of J-pop and dubstep. It is headed by Rinku Aimoto (voiced by Yuka Nishio), who returns to Japan after living on an unnamed African island. On her first day at the academy, She is inspired to create DJ unit with school DJ Maho Akashi (voiced by Maho Akashi), also known as DJ Mash, after seeing a performance by a hip hop unit named Peaky P-key. Easily excitable, her catchphrase ("happy around!") becomes the name of their DJ unit.

This music group later gains two additional members: a VJ and talented illustration named Muni Ohnaruto (voiced by Haruka Mimura) and wealthy-born Rei Togetsuwho who is skilled at playing the piano. Each person gets their role in the unit. Rinku becomes the main singer and dancer. Muni is the group's VJ, Maho is the group DJ, and Rei becomes composer and arranger of the group.

Like many anime with similar themes, music is front and center in the series. It informs the actions and dialogue of the characters, with the story almost built around the songs. In fact, the ending sequence of the season one episodes only focuses on Maho dancing and messing around at her DJ station.

This contrasts with other music series which aired last year, such as Shine Post, League of Nations Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches, and the idolish Cue! Those series primarily focus on a single music group. D4DJ focuses on multiple groups at the same time. On the other hand, D4DJ is similar to the aforementioned series in that all of the characters in the series are female. Male characters briefly appear but are never part of the show's primary cast.

The show's additional units are just as talented as Happy Around! There's hip hop-themed Peaky P-key, sci-fi themed Photon Maiden, tropical-themed Merm4id, gothic rock-themed Rondo, lolita-themed Lyrical Lily, and gothic-themed Abyssmare. Each of these units has their own strengths and weaknesses. Even though they often compete with one another, they collaborate with one each especially when holding civic events.

While there isn't anything to write home about, when it comes to the show's plot, the songs each band performs are catchy and stick with you. The episodes have some similarities with many episodes of LoliRock, in the episodes often have a music video of sorts at the end. Despite this, the characters are given enough definition that you sympathize with their struggles.

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What other series has two characters engaged in a rap battle (as shown above) about their feelings? There isn't one that comes to mind, making D4DJ unique in this regard. Even Disney series like Elena of Avalor, Hamster & Gretel, Milo Murphy's Law, Phineas & Ferb or Mira Royal Detective don't even come close.

The series has as much glitz as the recent seasons of Love Live! Superstar!! and Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, both of which have all-female casts. Even so, it is different, primarily because the animation style is more 3D, as much as DreamWorks productions using computer animation, like Guillermo del Toro's Tales of Arcadia trilogy series.

Personally, I tend to prefer 2D animation in currently airing Western animations like The Ghost and Molly McGee and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, or the style of classic anime such as Sailor Moon and Dear Brother. Even so, I appreciate the more realistic and less "cartoony" styles in the recently concluded Undone and the 2018 film I Lost My Body, to give two examples.

As such, it took me some time to adapt to the animation style of D4DJ. However, the distinct character personalities made me more invested in the story and journey of these characters, as they try and make a name for themselves. This interconnects with the focus on music, creating songs, and the importance of having a fun time.

Unsurprisingly, behind all of the optimism and exuberance, especially of Rinku, is drama. For instance, in the show's first season, Rinku and Muni have a falling out, and almost drift apart, while Maho often overworks herself. As such, it shares some of the same anti-overwork themes manifested in series like as the well-regarded isekai I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level.

The often fast-paced nature of D4DJ makes it different from the easy-going nature of the slice-of-life musical comedy, K-On!, or the classic surreal comedy Azumanga Daioh. In some ways this is a positive, since it makes you feel the hyper for the show's songs just like the characters.

Rei counters this exuberance, since she can be a more reserved, yet talented piano player, partially because of strict expectations her parents hoisted upon her. Through the group, her character gets a chance to cast those rules aside and be as free as the optimistic Rinku, coming into her own as the show's first season progresses.

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The second season, also known as D4DJ All Mix, changes up the story entirely. Instead of focusing on Happy Around!, it pivots to Lyrical Lily, DJ group whose members attend a well-regarded all-girls Catholic school named Arisugawa Academy. All the previous musical groups which have appeared in the series are pulled in, as Lyrical Lily enlists their help in an event to revitalize their town.

Unfortunately, these episodes do not pick up where the first season leaves off. In order to understand what is happening, viewers would need to play the video games of the franchise or watch the spin-off anime series, D4DJ Petit Mix. This confusion is compounded by the layout of the show on Crunchyroll, which treats the show's first and second seasons as separate shows.

This is remedied by the official D4DJ English YouTube channel, where viewers can watch music videos, OVA, a voice drama, or episodes of the show's seasons free-of-charge. The episodes air on Crunchyroll first and then are available on YouTube.

The series is similar to many female-centered idol anime for one major reason: it has yuri subtext. This is not unique. Shine Post, League of Nations Air Force Aviation Magic Band Luminous Witches, Cue!, and the two Love Live! series, which aired last year, all have similar subtext to varying degrees.

In fact, two of the members of the UniChØrd DJ unit, Kokoa Shinomiya and Hayate Tendо̄ , are in a canon romantic relationship, making them the first canon lesbian characters in the D4DJ franchise. Both attend Arisugawa Academy, like the members of Lyrical Lily, making it likely they will have a role in this anime.

Yuripedia has pages on six characters in the series, noting the closeness between Happy Around! members Rinku and Maho, Muni of Happy Around! getting jealous when Rinku gives attention to those other than herself, the habit of Noa Fukushima (VJ in Photon Maiden) to collect cute things and love "cute girls" (like Muni), and additional yuri subtext manifested by Aoi Miyake (a DJ in Rondo) and Haruna Kasuga (a member of Lyrical Lily). Such yuri subtext goes beyond these six characters.

The setting of the second season partially at an all-girls Catholic school hints at possible additional yuri themes. After all, the classic yuri, and Class S, series Maria Watches Over Us, known as Maria-sama ga Miteru and Marimite in Japan, is set at a fictional Catholic girls school named Lillian Girls' Academy in Musashino, Tokyo. The focus on Lyrical Lily in D4DJ is not all bad because viewers are shown some character depth, showing the closeness between these girls, and making them relatable.

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The excitability of D4DJ's characters shines through in their voice acting. For instance, those who voiced the Lyrical Lily members are shown having a fun time in the above video. Some of the show's cast have provided voices to characters in music-themed series (BanG Dream! and Wake Up, Girls!) and shows in additional genres, such as Luck & Logic, Assault Lily, Komi Can't Communicate, Wandering Son, Non Non Biyori, and Do It Yourself!!

The character voices of the series are consistent from season-to-season apart from Kanon Shizaki, who voiced Rei in season 1, but departed the D4DJ franchise in 2022. She was replaced by Maiko Irie in the second season. The same was the case for Ami Maeshima, who voiced Ibuki Niijima until 2022, with Kanon Nanaki taking her place this year.

D4DJ is bolstered by Bushiroad, a Japanese company which created the franchise. It is known for the Revue Starlight, BanG Dream!, and Tantei Opera Milky Holmes franchises. While all three have spawned anime series, the first two of these franchises have yuri subtext in their anime, just like D4DJ.

The series is further reinforced by the animation studio, Sanzigen, which animated the series. Interestingly, the studio itself is partially owned by Bushiroad. This studio previously produced the BanG Dream! anime series, along with Sakura Wars the Animation, From Argonavis (spinoff from BanG Dream!), and many others.

The director of both D4DJ seasons, Seiji Mizushima, is accomplished. He even studied dance music, which is an important part of the show itself, as is portraying being a DJ as realistically as possible. Mizushima previously directed episodes of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Beatless.

Otherwise, the group Photon Maiden may be a reflection of the actual Japanese idol industry, as it is formed by an entertainment company. All the units apart from them are formed by the groups themselves, rather than a company. In Japan, idols are marketed and commercialized through merchandise and endorsements from talent agencies, and deal with ravenous loyal fans.

This series, unlike the short-lived Heroines Run the Show, which ran last year, does not focus on the darkness of the idol industry. The latter has grueling work conditions, bans on dating, and oft serialization, especially for female idols. Often this is not a subject in idol anime either because the characters put together idol groups on their own or those involved in the industry (including voice actresses or the idol groups) are part of the anime series.

While D4DJ is not my favorite music anime, as I enjoy the Love Live! franchise better, especially Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club, it is still entertaining and stands firmly on its own in more ways than one.

The first and second seasons of D4DJ are currently streaming on Crunchyroll. Both seasons are also available free-of-charge on the official English D4DJ YouTube channel.

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channeleven · 2 years

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Why I don’t Like Teen Titans

I used to be a big fan of Teen Titans back in the day. With the advent of Teen Titans Go however, and people who haven’t let go of that show, I became more cynical toward the original show. Surely if so much effort is put toward heralding the original show it’s worth something, right? Well I thought about it, and I have complaints.

Not a Big Fan of the Animation

This should be obvious based on the various shots I made toward the show. I have nothing against the anime style, it works well in most shows, but it's not that it's bad, but that the show is inconsistent with it.

For perspective, specific characters are in the anime style, other characters are fashioned like those from other DC cartoons from the time, notably Justice League.

As you'd expect (or basically know, this isn't some obscure show.), the style clashes heavily with the tone of the show, once they get around to settling with one. One of the biggest hangups people have with Teen Titans Go is the comedic nature of it, but in this, the show's humor is just as cringeworthy, with the addition of anime tropisms that annunciate how childish it all feels.

However well it's animated is meaningless, because it was actually (or expectedly) costly to manage, which led to something one could never forget.

They could've easily kept with the style in other Timmverse shows, this was around the time Justice League Unlimited came out, but I guess one person couldn't hold back his Japanophilia.

Make Up Your Mind on the Tone

I called Teen Titans schizophrenic for a reason. Other shows that mix comedy and action at the very least keep a consistent tone, like Static Shock for instance. Here, there're stark jumps between comedy and darker action. They could've easily made an X-Men-esque show, but instead, we got a show that hasn't a clue what it wants to be.

We go from a Bat-Mite antagonist and Monty Python-type shenanigans, to allegories on drug abuse, racism and a satan stand-in. The shifts between each are enough to give you whiplash. It takes effort to incorporate both separately, it takes even more effort to strike a proper balance. Invader Zim pulled it off because it was a black comedy, with the comedy being exhibited through dark jokes, so when it came to darker aspects it wouldn't be out of place.

Not to mention, the anime schtick doesn't help matters, cartoony reactions in more serious scenes. And people treat this like the be all, end all of cartoons. At the very least Teen Titans Go stuck with one tone, this show feels just as lazy, as there was little rhyme or reason.

Dark My Ass

Along with the anime tropisms and cartoony expressions removing any seriousness from the situation, it also really wussed out when it came to major issues. Drug abuse? Relegated to a speed function. Satan, just my original character, Blatan. You already have a giant red demon, just call him Satan and have it where Raven was a demon sent to destroy the world before gaining a conscience and becoming a hero.

Not to mention dumbing down a discussion on racism. Once more Static Shock did it better by having it be point blank. Any show that relies on allegories is wussing out, and both were on the same network, so there was no excuse. Not to mention, I've seen no notable deaths on this, for a show heralded to such a degree you'd think they'd make no stops, but no, everything returns to the status quo.

Yeah, another thing, major catastrophes conclude quite swimmingly. That deal with Trigon? The entire city is restored and everyone reassumes their normal deeds. Any serialized elements can be chalked up to tracking down one particular bad guy.

If you really wanna go for dark and comedic, have it be indicative to the villains present (and that means no anime tropisms and whatever else the show has.)

Writing's not so good

I'm being harsh on this show because people love it so much and because it became the basis for an ongoing hate-boner for one certain show. Because it persists (albeit not as prominently as it was back then), it's a huge dealbreaker between me and this show.

But at large, many of the episodes have a lot of missed opportunities. People forget this is a dumbed down rendition of the comics.

There were so many directions many of the episodes could've gone, but we weren't so lucky. That episode where Beast Boy mutated, perhaps they could've had it where Beast Boy is framed for destroying the city by Adonis and the Titans get scrutinized. But no, it's entirely relegated to the Titans. This could've worked as a season one cliffhanger, where Beast Boy becomes a villain for a while, and is only able to realign with the Titans once he is able to merge both of his forms together.

That one where Robin saw Slade and no one else could? This could've been the perfect time (that along with Red X) to also have Robin potentially turn evil due to his obsession with Slade. The worst thing they did was give a reason for Robin's hallucinating. It's not a clever or subversive twist, it shoots a potentially clever idea in the foot. What could've been an interesting psychological thriller turned into another edgy evil villain plot that makes no logical sense.

The thing with Dr. Light was kinda useless, just leading to another one-way plot. This could've been a chance to create a villain to match Raven as he wants to bring the light to brighten the darkness (to her.), only pay-off to this is a callback later on. But on that episode, it would be interesting to have Raven turn into a demon which is why she is so limited with her emotions (the conflict being her anger would set something off), but neh.

When Cyborg gets transported back in time, it would've been interesting if the woman he saved turned out to be a twist villain and by saving her, cultivated a future threat.

On the episode they use to discuss racism... it feels limited. The context of Troq (however you spell it), feels like statement used to refer to Starfire's species as lower-class (which is more than nothing, and nothing is the meaning behind it.) I'd love to know the history between Star's home planet and wherever the guy who said the word is from, perhaps we can get even more background on Star's history to potentially make a new character arc, but no, we get the vanilla n-wpord treatement.

(I'm harping on that because some people treat this episode as a good discussion on racism. If you really want a good discussion on racism, check out the Static Shock episode Sons of the Fathers. Or hell, CatDog is a very good discussion on racism, discrimination and political and police corruption)

A little bonus, I think a line tweak would've helped make the episode with Atlus much better. If he begged for help at the end rather than a maintenance call from his lackey it would basically show that no matter the size, he is weaker for using his power for his own gain. Its such a simple thing to do...

And another thing I'll get to when we get to-

The not so great characters

Frankly the only interesting thing about Robin is his obsession with Slade. As mentioned before, Slade could've been an interesting way to drive Robin to villainy due to his constant obsession. It would get to the point he would throw his friends on the line when he feels he'd get close to a lead, whatever they did here feels like a typical action deal, i.e., not interesting.

It feels like Raven and Beast Boy fell into the teen cliche net, Raven strikes me as a generic mall goth who's traits are little more than predictable, and has the same kind of attitude many cartoon goths have that people latch on to. Plus she's voiced by Tara Strong. Beast Boy is reduced to a sometimes vegetarian, and the comic relief. Nothing too special and any good development feels hollow.

Starfire strikes me as the least good, mainly because she's so ill-developed. You'd think more time on earth would allow her to develop more, but no, she's the same as when she started. Gotta keep up that funny alien-custom schtick I guess.

And I suppose I don't find much wrong with Cyborg, because honestly he's the funniest one on the show.

Slade strikes me as both wasted and generic. First thing's first, he had no identity to keep, but they made it so here to act like the show has a deeper layer of complexity than it actually does, but it can't even pull that off.

Kinda wish we got more on how Plasmus came to be, no episode clued us in to how he became as was, hell, even with his upgrade he's still the same guy. Even Cinder (or whatever the blocky guy is) is confusing.

But now another thing... Terra.

First things first is why she didn't stick around for so long. Wouldn't you know it, the animation style led to higher costs on outsourcing, so they couldn't afford to add another full time regular actor. This had led to one of the worst character deconstructions I have ever seen. It's one very short, very clunky arc.

Firstly when she comes in, it's fine for the first few minutes, but when it comes to the climax, "Ruh roh! My powers suck, guess I gotta scram!", that's truly how it felt. Leading up to it, we're led to believe she has a history with Slade in the first episode, now look I'm all for a double agent set-up, but when you intentionally send clues to throw us off, that's not clever, that's just plain lazy.

I will say that one episode where Robin and Cyborg get transported to take on someone after playing a card game where Terra just suddenly appears could've worked to establish she was providing intel to Slade to set up a twist.

This kind of thing would've been better if it had more episodes to tell the arc, perhaps an entire season. We would be thrown off-guard by her 180 much more effectively when it comes. Because when she is revealed to be the villain, I'm like "Oh wow, I'm not interested."

Another thing I could say is that I like how she was reduced to rock. Perhaps her fear of using her power would stem from the fact that it could be her downfall? Slade could've manipulated her into becoming an ultimate weapon or just claim he had a way for her to relieve herself of her powers. And hello, another Static Shock reference. At this point I question if the writers could handle complex ideas like that.

Unintentional Cockiness

If you don't agree with me on the above, here's something more objective. They had a good finale, at least one appropriate to the show. But it seems the writers assumed they would get to do more, so they threw in this episode, featuring wasted potential incarnate coming back.

If you go into television, heed this advice. Treat every season finale like it's your series finale.

This feels like a dare the writers did when they knew they were about to get cancelled, sorta like what Duckman did for its series finale. Only difference is that this isn't as good of a cliffhanger, and, harkening back to me complaining about the writing, it negates what could've been an interesting aspect to Beast Boy.

From Terra's death on, Beast Boy would become more mature and fight for the world, not for himself but because he has something to fight for. If that was the case, they did a horrible job of showing it.

Conclusion

Teen Titans is rife with missed opportunities and a frankly vanilla feel to it. Compared to other DC shows, this honestly pales in comparison, it feels like the anime schtick was only done to ensure they'd get more people to watch, because otherwise we could leave well enough alone without it.

Honestly, Static Shock was a better DC cartoon from its era, tackling genuine issues head on, properly meshing comedy with action, being consistent art wise, damn, it's just a better show overall. Maybe we should be grateful Virgil never met the Teen Titans.

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maxwell-grant · 3 years

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Who's your favorite Batman villain?

The Penguin. Was gonna put off this ask for a bit but I got surprised today with an incredible rendition of him, so now the dastardly bumbershoot waddled and squawked his way into my thoughts again and I gotta talk about him.

Penguin's not just my favorite Batman villain, he's my favorite DC character and comic book supervillain, the main reason I even want to write a Batman story someday.

I love the imagery that surrounds him, the trick umbrellas and the birds he so lovely dotes after and the WAKs and the Iceberg Lounge, which has become maligned in recent years as a sign of his downfall, but I very much appreciate as a concept in general still. I love a lot of the performances and actors who've taken him over the years. Burgess Meredith and Danny DeVito are some of my favorite performers of all time, Paul Williams has a wonderful voice and starred in my favorite film of all time. Tom Kenny, David Ogden Stiers, Robin Lord Taylor, Penguin's just had such great, terrific performances and adaptations. Batman Returns is my favorite Batman film by far and it was what got me to start paying more attention to Oswald.

I love the roles he can play in any given Batman story and how he's managed to endure all of his falls from grace by becoming an indispensable part of Batman's worldbuilding. I love his varied dynamics with Batman and Riddler and Catwoman and Gordon and his henchmen and those who get close to him. I love his style and the way he conducts himself when he's allowed to be more than just a generic mob boss. Penguin's design has, by simply staying unchanged over the decades, gone from "common rich person wear draped over a funny cartoon gangster" to "he is so out of touch and desperate for respectability that he dresses like an 1930s capitalist caricature, like a little kid's idea of what a rich and respectable man looks like, and Penguin's still stuck in that mindset". I love how absurd and plausible he is.

I like that Penguin can very easily fit just about any kind of Batman story, from the campy supervillain plots to the gritty urban crime ones. You can tell stories about Penguin falling in love, pretending to be legit because he doesn't want his aunt to learn he's a criminal, and opening up a comedy act with a talking penguin, or stories about Penguin terrorizing the city with giant robots and guided missiles and driving people to suicide. I like that he's a character who both relishes in his lifestyles of supervillain and crimelord alike, and yet is perpetually restless because the minute he acquires what he wants, he immediately starts wanting something else. He could have Batman and the Batfamily and all other supervillains wiped out and have Gotham in his pocket and maybe even become President of the United States, and he'd still want more. Because Oswald is nothing but wants, the wants of a traumatized manchild in a funny costume throwing money and toys and brute force and tantrums at the world until it makes sense, which only makes him far too fitting as a Batman villain.

Everyone forgets that Penguin was canonically the first villain to ever successfully escape Batman at the end of a story, completely bypassing the usual "villain swears revenge behind bars" ending to instead escape scot-free, and went on to establish himself as one of his biggest, most inventive and most cunning villains, second only, if not equal, to Joker. I love that he's ruthless and inventive and classy and cunning and brutal and how his main trick is using the fact that everyone underestimates the short fat man to his advantage. He's taken traits that got many of us in real life relentlessly tormented for them, and he uses them to pull the wool over those who think they are better than him.

It'ss a trick that works because even in real life people can't stop looking at this weird and silly little man and think "that guy's too silly for a Batman villain, he's not a murder clown or musclebound monster, what's he gonna do" and, yeah, that's the point, that's been the point from day one, he doesn't look scary or intimidating or even that evil, and he's the guy who pulls the rug under supergenius fighting machine Batman and becomes the top crimelord of Gotham City, a city ruled by terrors and manias and monsters infinitely bigger and scarier and stronger than he is, and he STILL made it to the top and he STILL maintains it, time and time again even when newer and flashier and scarier villains come and go. Batman is, at it's core, a fundamentally absurd character, and Penguin acts as a reminder of that. Because the minute we accept a man can terraform himself with training and money into a living legend on the level of gods, there's no reason why a tiny fat man with similar drive and resources can't likewise throw his weight with monsters and warriors far above his station.

Despite how ridiculously often he's disrespected by writers and fans alike, how far he's fallen off his former position in Batman's Rogues Gallery, and how often he's used as just a punching bag for assorted Bat-people, Penguin never goes away. He's the biggest survivor of all of Batman's villains, more so than the genuinely immortal ones, because he's the cockroach that won't go away no matter how many times you flush it.

Because once you get past the piles of money and the lounge fortresses and the armies of goons and the piles of cartoony gadget toys not too dissimilar from Batman's own, what the Penguin has is brains, and spite and hatred on a scale no other Batman villain has. He hates Batman, because Batman is nothing but yet another bully who thinks he can push Oswald around just because he's bigger and stronger. He hates the lower class for it's unsophisticated brutes and boors that made his childhood hell. He hates the upper class that's rejected and also tormented him since infancy, that he desperately spent so long trying to be a part of. He hates the monsters and supervillains he works with and has to associate with to stay alive. He hates the city that he fights to rule over tooth and nail.

And although he may never admit it, he hates himself, because he'a short paunchy man with a beakish nose who's brutal and immoral not just because those are the cards life dealt him, but because he likes what it affords him too much to give it away. Because he's never going to have the love and acceptance he desperately craves, he will never be able to accept it or keep it. Because he can never fully be a gentleman, or a monster, but instead a sad mix who belongs in neither of their worlds. Because at the end, he doesn't look like anyone else. He looks like one of him.

And still, I like Penguin because he's a Gentleman Villain. The one Gentleman Villain of Batman's rogues gallery, even if that's faded from a lot of his recent appearences that pushed the crimelord aspects to the forefront. He dresses like a gentleman thief, he's canonically a huge A.J Raffles fan, he's one of the most cunning brains of Gotham, he's got the money, resources, and adventurous spirit. Problem is, he's The Penguin. And suddenly, all that he has becomes overblown, outlandish, theatrical, and out of touch purely because it's him trying to do all those things. He's a gentleman adventurer gone rogue, the Count Fosco of the DCU, and that only makes it amusing, even endearing, when Penguin does engage in the swashbuckling antics he's so fond of.

When all his plans go to hell and so he starts fencing Batman, or when he commands henchmen with superflous fancy language, or even when Oswald gives the whole "hero" thing a shot and we see he's actually not bad at it, maybe he actually could have been one if it wasn't for the bile drowning his heart and the hellscape that warped innocent young Cobblepot into Gotham's Penguin, a name that immediately denotes something silly and ridiculous, and he carries it with pride, because he will make you respect that name.

And that's just a couple of reasons. I really, really love this character to the point of obsession and the main reason why I ever wanted to write stories for DC was to get to write Penguin and at least try to do the character a little more justice. But if nothing else, Penguin endures, regardless of what happens to him, in and out of universe. If nothing else, that's a very admirable quality in a supervillain. Oswald is the best.

#replies tag #comic books #batman #batman villains #the penguin #oswald cobblepot

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felikatze · 3 years

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give me the a brainworms i am deeply invested in this man

(0) (2) (3) (4)

okay first of all you asked for this. second of all if i am a little off track from the game that is explained by me just building thoughts like building blocks without looking back. third i was supposed to be studying for an exam but this counts as practice right? it's character analysis anyway lmao.

buckle the fuck up, my dearest anon, because I have sub headings.

1. A as the Player Character

Let me begin with why I am obsessed with this horrid little guy in the first place: he's a silent protagonist. I am always obsessed with protagonists. It's a law of nature. I love taking hollow characters and dissecting them for scraps. It's a long standing practice of mine.

Being a silent protagonist, A, as X, does not have a set personality. However, there are patterns. Firstly, as any semi-silent protagonist, A is a reactive character. He does not start incidents, he only responds to situations, presented by the Sephirah, as they arise. He does not actively seek out new information, merely going about the routine of expanding departments, but expresses curiosity when information is presented to him.

I'm aware fandom likes to characterize X and A differently, likely because they are initially presented as different characters. I, on the other hand, would like to pose the theory that they are more similar than expected.

I believe that A is also a reactive character, rather than active. Despite the fandom wiki describing him as stubborn, the goal A pursues with such fervor, the completion of the Seed of Light, is not actually a goal he set for himself. Carmen is the one who set this goal for him by leaving him her legacy.

Throughout the backstory we get relating to the Cogito Project, A is Carmen's assistant, whereas Carmen is the driving researcher. This is how many of the City's inhabitants seem to be; going with the flow of goals set for them by superiors. Yes I will get into his attachment to Carmen later.

The above is not to say A isn't stubborn. Once he has accepted a goal as his own, he will pursue it at all costs, as is obvious from any and all flashbacks leading to horrible deaths. But the point isn't his pursuit of the goal, but where that goal comes from. Even Lobcorp itself supports this, despite what Hokma may say; A as X follows the "simple" task of managing the Corp's day to day activities, and executes any mission given to him by the Sephirah. He outranks them, and doesn't actually need to do their missions, but does so anyway. Players are driven by the reward offered by those missions, of course, and A might be the same in that regard. Nonetheless, at no point in gameplay do you do anything somebody else hasn't told you to.

The overarching narrative of the Script would be the most obvious example. Every single person in the game follows the script, whether they know it or not.

Lastly on this note, a phrase we hear attributed to A, "Machines must behave as machines." Now, Angela may be attached to this phrase because it bears significance to herself as a machine, and informs most of A's unjust treatmeant of her. However, what if it doesn't just apply to machines? The phrase reads as such, "Everyone must act according to their own role."

2. A, Carmen, and the disease of the mind

So, A will at any cost pursue goals Carmen set for him. Question is, why? The obvious answer would be saying he's in love with her, which like, true. But also, how did Carmen come to be so precious to him?

Let us return to the comparison, "This is how many of the City's inhabitants seem to be." We don't really know why exactly most characters joined Carmen, excluding mainly Daniel and Benjamin. But this does not mean we can't have theories.

Carmen's ideal was curing the "disease of the mind." What is the disease? Complete hopelessness. The inability to form aspirations and dreams, to think of a better future. A is a very reactive character who does not set goals for himself. Therefore, I personally conclude, that initially, Carmen's ideology resonated with him because he could identify with the disease.

This is the point where I start rewatching Lobcorp story clips. Dear god.

So, by briefly binging day 27 onward, I've come up with lines that very much support this lil theory of mine:

First, from Carmen, a description of the disease, "People lock away their own potential."

Second, a line from Angela, after the memory synchronization, "You've locked yourself in this prison without bars."

Carmen describes A as humble, and Benjamin thinks he is warm. If I suppose A was one of the diseased initially, Carmen would be the catalyst for this change. Carmen was someone with big aspirations, with plans to heal what is wrong with the City, and it gave him hope. He was one of the diseased, but through time with Carmen, with that relentless optimistic spirit, he may have been cured, for a time. It's not a stretch to say that she was his light.

But lor shows us what happens when the seed of light sprouts wrong, doesn't it? It distorts. A grasped hope for the first time and then it is ruthlessly crushed. Carmen was everything. Yes, A is described as a jack-of-all-trades, as a genius in all pursuits he puts his mind to, but what does that matter in the face of someone who can unite people? Who can give them hope of a better world? Who can inspire them to actually use the talents they have?

And what kind of pressure is it to put the legacy of a messiah in the hands of the diseased?

3. A and the Perception Filter: A is weak to White damage

No, I am serious about that. He's extremely weak mentally. Obviously death of a loved one is a changing experience for absolutely anybody, but Carmen's death destroyed him.

Not only did he refuse to confide this grief to anyone and bottled it up, now everybody looked to him to lead the project, but he just isn't Carmen. He isn't an ambitious person, he doesn't have the same optimism, he can't bring people together, but people expected him to, and he failed. Hard.

While he was without a doubt talented in science, he was also just an average guy.

After her death, A grew to hate humans. He lost trust in them. He refused to confide in anyone, and be confided in by anyone. Thus, the team fell apart.

In both lobcorp and lor, we get interesting tidbits about precations taken to protect the manager.

Firstly, Lobcorp's perception filter. The cartoony art-style of the game is a result of the game being in first person. Through the eyes of the manager, everything is cartoony!

This is a measure undertaken to specifically protect the manager's psyche. Angela tells us that, before it was deployed, the manager would frequently go insane, one notable incident including the manager trying to hang himself. When we first hear this, the previous managers and X are still separate in our minds. However, they're all A! A went insane multiple times without it.

This is understandable, considering that employees also frequently go insane and try to kill both themselves and others. But they're there in action, confronting the Abnormalities directly. Just watching them made the manager go mad. They could not handle the responsibility for the employees' deaths.

In lor, Angela explains why she picked the Rabbit Team from R Corp as their main contractor instead of any other team. One team was simply too big for L Corp's narrow hallways, and the other team... dealt in psychic damage. It was simply too big of a risk for the manager. But the manager is always secure behind the cameras. Would that teams methods just be that brutal visually, or would their attacks have reached the manager?

Combined with his immense grief at all of his friends and coworkers dying in part because of him, A cannot bear to look at death.

4. A's greatest flaw: Avoidance

A common thread during Core Meltdown flashbacks: A refuses to look at suffering. He just can't. Whether it be looking away from Elijah writhing on the floor or hanging up on Daniel's panicked report of death.

This is actually the thing Angela takes the biggest issue with, and what hurt her most. A would never look at her, acknowledge her, and she did not understand why. But I think A did not refuse to look at her out of maliciousness. Rather, it was out of grief over Carmen. He could not look at her without being reminded of what he lost.

Angela's creation came about because A wanted someone to guide him, someone like Carmen. He threw himself into the project to the point it made Benjamin happy that A was passionate about anything again. But as soon as the project he distracted himself with is complete, he is filled with regret. Carmen cannot be replicated, and he breaks again.

Furthermore, tying this back to my first point about A being a reactive person, we see Angela take charge over A. She's the one recruiting employees and leading the business. It was likely a relief for him to be able to step down from the leading position.

But avoiding it made everything worse. He did not act when he saw Elijah's unchecked ambition, he did not act beyond a simple check at Gabriel's decay, he gave Giovanni the same hope he clung to to no avail, et cetera et cetera.

Avoiding his problems is making them worse and sending everything down the drain (including his psyche), so he deals with it the only way he knows how, avoiding them more!

Biggest example of A's big avoidance problem as his psyche crumbles: the memory wipe. A, in perhaps his one singular moment of acknowledging his emotions, recognizes that he is incapable of fulfilling the Script in his current state. His grief is just too much.

By erasing his own memory, he could start fresh without his grief, because he might've really killed himself otherwise. His suffering became bigger and bigger, and he coped by avoiding it.

The memory wipe allowed him to distangle his problems. Through his interactions with the Sephirah (which I will not individually detail for the sake of my sanity and because I dumped all this on a friend on discord already), he can deal with and actually process his issues one at a time.

As the motto describes, only by facing the fear can he build the future. Only by finally facing his grief and acknowleding it, seeing that the past cannot be changed and he has no choice to move forward, can he actually do so.

5. The Sephirah as ghosts

Lobotomy Corporation feels like a ghost story. I've touched upon this in my previous A post.

As you reach the Corp's lower levels, there are less Sephirah. First there are four. They act like normal employees, and do not breach into the story's underbelly until you reach their core supressions and the facade breaks. Second, counting Tiphereth as one, there are three. They still go about their duties, but they know what they are. Third, there are two, and the facade is gone. They know what they are, and they will tell you about the sins of the past.

And finally, you reach Keter, and there is only one.

This gradual decay of the facade is what really gets to me. I said that by interacting with the Sephirah, A deals with his issues one by one, but that's what the Sephirah are, in this case. Representations.

The people the Sephirah used to be are dead, and the Sephirah are their ghosts. The core supression involve putting these ghosts to rest. Doesn't it match the progression of a typical ghost story? Find the ghost, find what they used to be, and help them move on.

So, if everyone is a ghost, then A is alone.

But, behind the scenes, the Sephirah are still there. They are still people, and they have changed for the better, too. As always, A simply does not look.

(Does he even see the good others see in him? Does he look away from praise, too? Did he even realize Benjamin's admiration for him? Will we ever know?)

6. A's end.

A's progression of moving on would be fine and dandy if it did not end as thus: A does kill himself.

A sees himself beyond the point of no return. Everyone is dead. He is alone. Carmen is never coming back. He can't call it quits now, or else everything has been in vain. (Even if the last days show us a part of him wants to just quit, so badly.)

So, there's only one thing left to do: follow the Script to its ending. Fulfill Carmen's legacy at all costs. Death as the ultimate release.

This is the point where I admit I do not like the death as release trope. But the game does a good enough job as presenting it as the only option A had, or the only option he saw himself as having.

However, I've mentioned it before, I'll mention it again: A was not alone. Death was his release, but he left wreckage. In order to end his own suffering, he inflicted the same pain he went through on others.

Throughout the game, he moves on and pushes through. The ending shows that in reality... he didn't.

At least in lor the characters stick together and help each other heal.

This has been most of my thoughts on A, amounting to my longest analysis post ever, having taken me approximately two and a half hours to complete, and clocking in at 2337 words including up to this paragraph.

Thank you anon for giving me the incentive to verbalize all of this, so I can finally be at ease having inflicted my thoughts on everybody else.

#Feli gets asked #lobotomy corporation #ayin #library of ruina #also i saw apparently another fandom besides lc uses the ayin tag which is just fun to watch honestly #many characters could rival this word vomit probably but as i said i already inflicted most of my thoughts abt netz on my good pal borgor #thank you borgor for dragging me back into projmoon stuff. also curse you terribly #long post #Feli speaks

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princesssarisa · 2 years

Text

Snow White Winter: "Festival of Family Classics: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1973 animated series episode)

In the same era that Rankin/Bass produced their classic holiday specials (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, The Year Without a Santa Claus, etc.) and before their forays into high fantasy with The Hobbit, The Return of the King and The Last Unicorn, they produced Festival of Family Classics, a single-season animated series that adapted classic literature, folktales, and, of course, fairy tales. The final episode of the series was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which aired on March 4, 1973.

Predictably for a 20-minute cartoon, the storytelling is fairly straightforward, but with assorted creative twists too. It begins with the Queen ordering a guard (rather than a huntsman) to kill Snow White in the forest, lying that the princess is plotting against her to seize her late father's throne. After the guard lets her go, Snow White meets a talking owl named Why (so named because he's wise enough to always ask "Why?" instead of just "Who?" the way other owls do), who leads her to the dwarfs' cottage and becomes her constant companion from then on. He joins the quirky dwarfs in providing humor, as does the goofy face in the magic mirror, who dislikes the Queen and enjoys making snide remarks about her looks.

Two of the Queen's murder attempts from the Grimms' tale are included. The first is true to the text, with the Queen disguised as an old peddler woman, although the suffocating bodice is changed to a sash, but the poisoned apple delivery is more inventive. This time the Queen disguises herself as a traveling circus barker, fooling and exciting the dwarfs as well as Snow White; she invites them all to bob for apples, has Snow White go first, and directs her straight to the poisoned one. When the young King Maximilian (formerly Prince Maximilian, but newly ascended to the throne) finds Snow White's glass coffin, the way he awakens her is inventive too. He holds a small mirror to her face in hope of seeing fog on the glass – that time-honored method of checking for breath – and who should appear in that mirror but the spirit of the Queen's magic mirror, who betrays the Queen by revealing how to break the spell of the apple! He explains that a king must speak the last thought Snow White was thinking before she collapsed. The dwarfs and Why rack their brains, and then remember that Snow White's last words were "I love this!" The young King repeats the word "love" and Snow White awakens.

The Queen's ultimate punishment is a mild, comical one. She arrives at Snow White's wedding party (furious not only because Snow White is alive, but because she had hoped to marry Maximilian herself) and tries to throw a spear at Snow White from a balcony. But she loses her balance and crashes face-first into the wedding cake. As she exits covered in frosting, Why remarks that he always knew she would get her "just desserts," and everyone laughs.

Needless to say, this isn't the most sophisticated Snow White, but it has charm all the same. The animation is Saturday-morning crude, in the cartoony style that's instantly recognizable from Rankin/Bass's iconic early Christmas specials. The tone is very light as well, with comedy far outweighing the story's darker elements. The shameless influence of Disney's version can also be felt, from Snow White's yellow-skirted, blue-bodiced dress, to occasional lines of dialogue taken almost word-for-word from the 1937 classic. Still, in its colorful, goofy way, this is an enjoyable Snow White, much like Rudolph, Frosty, and their sister specials are always appealing despite their clunky, kitschy aspects.

This is far from an essential Snow White, but for lovers of the corny charm of vintage Rankin/Bass animation, it's worth seeing.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @superkingofpriderock

#snow white #snow white winter #fairy tale #snow white and the seven dwarfs #rankin/bass #festival of family classics #1973 #animated series #cartoon #animation

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springsaladgaming · 3 years

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I hope you're doing well! ROs and our brother Sungjae reacting to MC having a sketchbook that has random sketches of items, places, people- like they have more sketches of them than others in a crushing phase. It was funny in my head that Sungjae seeing different forms of themselves in MC's sketches while they are growing up like from scribbles which they insist are exactly like them photographic to actually cartoony versions to realistic and other styles.

Hey there, anon! You said sketches made during crush phase, where it concerns the ROs, so I'm assuming that's when they are finding out about said sketches too. Here ya go!

Alex - I imagine Alex would find out without MC's knowledge. They would react with a devilish grin and entertain ideas of posing for MC to draw them (nude or clothed). They'd wait until the perfect time to tease MC about it, like the next time they KNOW that MC is sketching them, and say something like, "I love that you draw so many pics of me."

Ansel - I'm not going to say whether or not Ansel is a snoop about certain other things, but he would definitely not snoop into MC's sketchbook unless MC showed it to him first. Inwardly, he would be surprised and very touched by the fact that MC sketches him so much, but outwardly he would be focused on making affirming comments about MC's skill.

Teagan - He probably would not catch on to the implications immediately. Like Ansel, he would also not snoop into the sketchbook on his own, so MC would have to show it to him first. Later, when he would realize the quantity of pictures that were of him, he would feel like an absolute idiot for not noticing sooner. He'd ask MC about it, only because he wouldn't want to jump to conclusions, and, depending on how MC responds to the questions, get the possibility of a relationship out in the open right then and there.

Cherry - If MC didn't show them to her first, she would resist looking at them and ultimately fail if the opportunity presented itself for her to look at the sketches secretly. The next time she noticed MC sketching, she would not be able to hold back the blush, but she would be too embarrassed to ask about the drawings directly.

Lucia - She would be immediately lovestruck, regardless of how she learned about the sketches. She has an inner hopeless romantic and has the tendency to read into things even if there might not be romantic feelings involved. She would immediately feel like she needs to do something nice for MC in return, and her go-to idea would be to take MC on a romantic picnic.

Rene - Ecstatic to talk about ART! He would be extremely flattered to realize most of the pictures are of him, bringing it up in the fashion of, "Wow, there are lot of sketches of me in here." Would then shyly invite MC to come to one of his guided painting classes so they could spend a little bit of time together bonding over something they would both enjoy.

And our bonus answer, Sungjae - This depends entirely on what kind of childhood and current relationship MC had with Sungjae. Good childhood, good current relationship: Sungjae would be full of warm feelings, but he might also be a little concerned that maybe he's fostered a relationship with MC that is too dependent. Good childhood, bad current relationship: he'd be shocked but hopeful. Maybe the good friendship they had as kids isn't completely lost. Bad childhood, good current relationship: relieved that he didn't blow their relationship from not being close when they were kids. Bad childhood, bad current relationship: shocked and guilty. Wracked with guilt over feeling like he just can't be the sibling MC needs him to be.

#anonymous #ask #ninelives if #ninelives ros

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nny11writes · 2 years

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Happy fic writer:

2 11 14

I love your stuff btw <3

Aw, thank you! :D

My answers got pretty long (especially the snippet where I just wanted to post a whole entire scene apparently) so it's going under a read more.

2. Talk about a favorite comment you received.

God it's always hard for me to pick a single favorite comment because I am fortunate to have gotten so many that I love????????

A recent example is a really short note from a bookmark actually (every so often I remember bookmarks exist and then curiously look to see if anyone left notes) that was something like "It's momgella but somehow 100 times better". I don't know why that is such a sweet comment but I got really cotton in the chest happy feelings after seeing it! Sometimes a short and simple comment just hits one thing so well, or relieves a worry I had.

Any comment that is a variation on "wow I didn't know I'd like this so much!", *explains where I was when I laughed too hard out loud*, or telling me about a specific thing (the writing style, this one line, this character, this set up, etc) that was loved really make my day!

Like a lot of writers, while I love a lot of what I post I'm also really worried I post a lot of garbage that people will hate and regret wasting time having read. So those kinds of comments often pop the anxiety balloon that my brain was holding onto.

A different kind of comment I love is when I get a nice back and forth thread going on where the commenter inspired me and then they write back and we trade ideas and headcanons and jokes. I love that so much it's outrageous lol!

11. Who is your favorite character(s) to write about and why?

I mean, right now I think it's pretty obviously Catra lol.

But let's talk character types for a moment. I love me some short queens who either go 100% berserk or short queens who, through a great effort of will, do not punch every person they want to. Catra fits both categories nicely depending on when/where I'm writing her. She has a lot of depth to her character, with a lot of different and conflicting reasons for what she does or believes. She's an unreliable narrator who really can't decide if she's the worst thing to happen to etheria or the planet's last chance at having a brain cell. It makes her a lot of fun to write and play with because different circumstance could so wildly change her reaction without stretching her past blatant OOC limits.

And, sure, I do hit those limits and go beyond when I want to, but part of why I like Catra so much is how there's so much wiggle room! I like writing from Glimmer's perspective because she also has a lot of these same characteristics. But I find that when I'm writing and about to write something Really Dumb, I often feel like the character has grabbed my wrist to look me dead in the eyes and say "No." And when I try to stretch Glimmer in more cartoony ways or over emphasize traits too much she is much more likely to tell me to cut it out. Whereas Catra often sighs heavily and is like, "I will kill you, but I will also allow it, stupid."

Ahsoka also fell into some of these set ups, you can write her younger and bolder and brasher, quicker to anger and anxious beyond all reason or older where she is stronger in her convictions but slower and calmer to act. Fulcrum Ahsoka really meets the "palm tree with a core of diamond" idea my aikido sensei used to talk about. She can bend in the wind but doesn't break, returning to stand tall once more. She's more even keeled than someone like Catra, which can also be fun to play with in it's own way! Ahsoka can't be too stoic, and she definitely can't be right all the time, so showing the really human way she makes choices or logics things out is a lot of fun to me.

14. Share a snippet.

Who wants a long snippet about Catra and Hordak learning to be friendly post canon? STOP TRYING TO LEAVE MY POST AND READ THE LONG SNIPPET!?!?!?!?!?

She’d nearly forgotten about it by the time the all princess picnic came around. An event that was based, partially, on Princess Prom but at an annual and less rule rigid rate. Over the years it had grown slowly from the members of the Princess Alliance to just…princesses.

Catra nearly gagged as she watched a gaggle of them skipping and giggling about. The alliance itself was bad enough at times with the glitter and friendship always wins, but the broader princess community was particularly insufferable in their full party-going glory. She quickly swiped a handful of cheesy rolls into her arm and slinked away from the loudest of the lot. It was the work of a few minutes to reach her tree, it had the widest branches in the whole meadow making it ideal to nap in, and she almost managed to hide away when she saw him sitting at the foot of it.

Hordak had opted for a skirt today, and clearly Wrong Hordak had gotten to choose his top. Unless her former boss enjoyed wearing a tie dyed monstrosity covered in a rhinestone peace symbol.

They stared at one another in an awful sort of uncertainty before Hordak finally spoke. “Ah. Enjoying the…biscuits?”

Catra looked at her arm load of greasy rolls, which she realized were staining her shirt and getting into her fur with a frown. “Yup. They’re pretty good.”

“Oh?” He sounded surprised but she wasn’t sure why, if he’d tried them then he either understood or was an idiot. “Excellent. I was unsure if the garlic butter would significantly change their flavor profile.”

It took her an embarrassingly long minute of her life to parse out the Hordakaneese. “Wait, you made these?”

“Yes.”

She managed to not hurl a roll at his head and instead just pictured how satisfying watching it bounce off his spiked blue locks would be. “Okay, that’s what we call a soft opening. So you can, you know, share more if you’d like.”

Or at least Micah called it that and Catra was going to pretend she understood it better to lord it over Hordak.

“I am aware. …there is not much else to say on this matter. I am glad you like them.” The last sentence was said with such a bizarre cadence that she was sure he’d be drilled and practiced it.

“Great.” And with that she leapt up into the lowest branches and tried to enjoy her pilfered goods. Stealing usually added an extra layer of deliciousness, but knowing Hordak made them somehow negated the effect.

There was a long stretch of silence before Hordak’s voice floated up, “Did you bring anything to the picnic?”

What a piece of scrap, was Catra’s first very uncharitable thought, followed annoyingly by Adora’s stupid, Why are you being so crude? She’d been trying to think of a way to phrase things and somehow managed to use the most junior cadet sounding thing that came to mind. Real shame how well it worked.

“I made the mint lemonade.” Catra waited a beat before realizing that Hordak probably didn’t understand what that meant. Entrapta wasn’t really about non-carbonated beverages. “I grew the mint and harvested the lemons. Adora helped me squeeze them. Sugar, lemon juice, and mint. Mint lemonade.”

“Ah. It does an admirable job of…cutting through the heat.”

Alright, she’d hit her limit of translating Hordak’s weirdness for the day. “...so you liked it?”

She peaked over the edge of her branch to watch his head tilt in consideration. Well, that was a good sign at least.

“Yes. I liked the mint lemonade.”

And that was about enough of that.

#happy fic writer game #ask game #thanks for playing!#comments are really the lifeblood of fanfics #and it's hard to choose one I love in particular because usually whatever the most recently touching one is #that's it that's my favorite comment I've ever gotten ever!#until the next one!#I've always found it interesting to see which characters writers latch onto as the point person versus who they clearly love to write about #like I love writing about Adora but I struggle with her PoV #Same with Anakin I love that disaster man but his PoV is a hot mess that I can't do justice to #just interesting and fun to see!#The Catra & Hordak Buddy Fic (title pending)#Please picture Hordak in his picnic outfit

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