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inkdemonapologist · 2 months

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Thoughts on the BatIM books not being canon?

Originally typed up an answer based on the one TheMeatly tweet about creators being given “freedom to make things their own” when telling stories in their world, and that the games decide the canon. I thought that “the books aren’t canon” would be a bit of a reductive takeaway from that – like, I read it as the idea that the books don’t determine the canon, and aren’t beholden to some grand future plan to make sure they fit with the games, so they aren’t a trustworthy predictor of what’s going on in the games and in the case of contradictions, the games win. Like, the books can’t be counted on for theorycrafting, but that doesn’t mean Buddy or Abby are “noncanon” Bendy characters – just that they’ll never intersect with the games. But recently Mike Mood tweeted that “if it’s in a book, it’s not canon” pretty directly, so I guess Adrienne has just been writing a Bendy AU all this time??? Lmao.

I still think this is sort of not surprising after BatDR. Before BatDR actually came out, I was advocating pretty enthusiastically for little references to book characters – I know this was sort of controversial at the time, because people were worried about the idea of making the books “required reading” and references you don’t get if you don’t READ UP ON THE LORE – but I don’t think this would be necessary. If you give Dot an audiolog that’s like “I may just be an intern here in the writing department, but even I can tell there’s something fishy going on. I’ve got to investigate. Wally’s always losing his keys in [hint for the player], I bet I can find them” then if you’ve never read the books, that audiolog tells you everything you need to know, isn’t tangled up in any Book Lore, introduces the character as if she’s new, while also being a fun chance for the book readers to be like YOOOO MY GIRL IS HERE. Even just a schedule that says Joey has a meeting with Abby Lambert, or Ms. Lambert’s name on a desk somewhere in the art department, or a couple of animation cells on desks with characters from Crack-Up Comics, would be a fun wink to the book readers EVEN IF you want the canon to not be tied up with the books. Heck, you’ve got the non-audio-log memos in this game, you wouldn’t even have to give book characters a canon voice.

But, when BatDR had NOT ONLY no acknowledgement of the books, but also….didn’t even seem to be going in the same direction? I think the writing was sort of on the wall --

-- the people writing the games aren’t taking the books into account and the books aren’t going to be referenced here. The only question was whether the books were written with the plans of the games in mind and… I’m gonna be real. The idea that the Bendy franchise doesn’t really have Plans as such and so the books are just guessing and theorising, but the games reserve the right to go off in a completely different direction if they want to is, uh, not that surprising either. Bendy and the Ink Machine has never really seemed like a thing that had a grand plan, to me, it was just fun to pretend that it did – and then when the books were actually GOOD, it sold the idea of trying to puzzle that world together even more.

So there’s a cynical part of me that’s annoyed about this being mentioned now, you know, after 3-4 different books have been purchased by fans who were interested in learning some lore while waiting for BatDR, and now that BatDR’s out it’s like “oh, well, we’ve never felt this was CANON canon” when before it wasn’t really sold that way. If this has “always” been true, then all the “is Joey gay” questions could’ve been so easily dodged by admitting that the books were doing their own take rather than determining canon, but that fans are free to accept that interpretation. Adrienne answered one AMA question about what would become of Dot in a way that implied she didn’t know, as if she’d created this character who now existed in the world and it was up to the creators of that world to determine her fate. All of this combined with that one clarifying tweet about how EVERYTHING IN THE ORIGINAL BATIM IS STILL CANON before BatDR’s release creates the picture of intentionally selling on original BatIM’s love of theorycrafting and lore-collecting because that’s what would keep fans engaged. Either they were carefully Not Mentioning that the books aren’t canon during a time when they needed the books to sell, or the decision to treat books as “noncanon” is more recent than TheMeatly claims.

But despite my complaining, I do think this is like… wise. BatDR makes it clear that writing a Mystery With Deep Lore isn’t really what they want to do with this franchise now, if it ever was, and so now that BatDR has done reasonably well they can go ahead and admit it. If they want to be able to just hand a comic project to some comics people and not have to collaboratively run every design through their own art department to make sure it’s one they’d be willing to use in the games if that character ever appears, then it’s nice to go ahead and tell fans point blank that these designs are an interpretation by a third party, not The Canon, and should be treated as such. I think it’s not a bad way to run things, to give these other creators freedom to do their own thing with the material.

But, well, as for me and my feelings… I liked the books. I got into this franchise backwards, from a fansong and fanfiction that made me care about characters from a game I’d neither played nor watched, and then finding the concept of Sammy’s ink addiction in DCTL compelling even if I’d only heard bad things about DCTL at the time – I started writing Taste of Ink in hopes of getting this out of my system so I could move on, haha. And then Illusion Of Living came out, this incredible picture of everything I wanted from the franchise, and unfortunately nothing else has ever quite measured up. Maybe that makes sense; a lot of Bendy fans had a hard time getting through TIOL. I think I wanted a different franchise all along, and back when there wasn’t any new content in the True Game Canon, it was easier to play out the thing I wanted in the leftover ruins of this one. But then the original creators came to restore those ruins, and it was a cool thing they built, but it wasn’t anything like the ruins I’d had so much fun in anymore. I’m… genuinely proud of how much I contributed to this fandom, and so thrilled that people have enjoyed what I made here. If you weren’t following me a couple of years ago I really do recommend looking back through my blog because I made A LOT OF CONTENT………. Early on I got an ask of “does ur back hurt from carrying the entire bendy fandom,” which obviously I couldn’t post because there were definitely other creators carrying it with me, but tbh there were very few of us back when I fell face-first into this obsession and I have to admit that ask gives me some warm fuzzies to this day, haha. Like, there was a little stretch of time when the version of BatIM that I imagined helped to keep the fandom afloat! But it, like the books, was never the direction that the franchise was going to go. The BatIM I loved was was collectively dreamed into existence by people who found that game’s premise compelling.

I still love Bendy. I don’t think I ever will stop. This franchise made such a huge impact on me for reasons that are still KIND OF MYSTERIOUS LMAO. I still care a LOT about this world and these characters, but I don’t know if I’ll make much more canon-adjacent fanstuff here. Cthulhu AU is giving me the human batim content I crave and several of the AUs I’m involved in have sort of become their own thing. Maybe someday I’ll figure out how to capture whatever it was in BatIM that took over my brain so intensely for more than 3 years, but I don’t know if I’ll find it in the franchise anymore.

#i know you have questions you always do

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deemee-ed · 3 months

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Wow, I'm so normal about this movie! *develops a DreamWorks conspiracy theory on why Me and My Shadow got cancelled*

DreamWorks and franchises: a "conspiracy theory" on why "Me and My Shadow" got cancelled

On December 10th 2010 the project for an animated movie called "Me and My Shadow" was announced by DreamWorks. The story is about a timid and boring man called Daniel Grubb and his shadow "Shadow Dan" trying to convince him to live a more exciting life. The animation style follows an idea similar to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", except that instead of blending 2D animation and live-action it would have worked with both 2D and 3D animation, with 2D for the shadow characters and their world and 3D for the real people. Despite being half-way done, the release date of this project kept being pushed back, first from 2013 to 2014, until it entered a state of limbo and eventually got cancelled. This decision was taken mostly due to the failure in 2014 of "Mr. Peabody and Sherman", which brought to the cancellation of other projects as well.

Personally, I have been upset about this cancellation ever since I found out about this movie, mostly because I just know that if it had come out this would have been one of my favorite movies ever. A few days ago DreamWorks released a trailer for their next movie, "Megamind 2", a very cheap-looking sequel to "Megamind" set to release on March 1st 2024 on Peacock. While I was washing the dishes (lol), I thought about this trailer for a moment and had a sudden "conspiracy theory" coming up on why "Me and My Shadow" was one of the movies got cancelled after 2014: In the same trailer of "Megamind 2" they announce a new serie which will come out based on it, meaning that this movie is basically an advertisement or a pilot for the show. This is reinforced by the cheap animation commonly used in these spin-off shows.

This serie announcement made me realize something: DreamWorks has made A LOT of shows, shorts and sequels based on their movies. In other words, this studio loves creating franchises. And even though this is a common marketing choice for many studios, I feel like DreamWorks does this VERY often. Some examples are: -"Shrek", with 3 sequels (might become 4), 8 shorts, 3 TV specials, and 2 spin-off movies and 1 serie based on Puss in Boots -"Kung Fu Panda", with 2 (soon 3) sequels, 3 series and 5 shorts -"How to train your Dragon", with 2 sequels, 3 series and 6 shorts -"Madagascar", with 3 sequels, 3 series, 3 shorts and a spin-off movie based on The Penguins of Madagascar -"Trolls", with 2 sequels, 2 series, 6 shorts and 2 TV specials -"The Croods", with 1 sequel and 2 series -"Monsters vs Aliens", with 1 serie, 2 shorts and 1 TV special -"Captain Underpants", with 1 serie and a possible spin-off movie -"Mr. Peabody and Sherman", with 1 serie As you can see, both known and less known movies ended up having at least 1 serie, turning them into franchises. It's actually rarer to find movies by DreamWorks that were not turned into franchises. So I'd say it's clear that DreamWorks has quite some interest in this marketing choice.

Even their newer movie "Orion and the Dark", released on Netflix on February 2nd 2024, can work as a DreamWorks franchise. You can understand this by the presence of a TEAM of secondary characters: they can't be fully developed in a movie, but they are an interesting team that can be developed in a show. It's the same concept as the Furious Five from "Kung Fu Panda", or as the Penguins of Madagascar and King Julien from "Madagascar": a team of secondary characters the movie can't focus on, but that you wouldn't mind seeing again. And now, with the release of a show based on "Megamind 2", a new team of villains is introduced in the sequel. Villains that are very likely going to be secondary characters that could be developed more in a show. See the pattern? I believe that DreamWorks follows this as their standard for a franchise: the movie must have a team of secondary characters.

Now, let's look back at "Me and My Shadow" and let's focus on the characters. From what we know, there were going to be 4 relevant characters: -Daniel Grubb (who some of you might also know as Stanley) -Shadow Dan (also known as Shadow Stan) -Heidi (Daniel's love interest) -The Shadow Villain (the bad guy, obviously) Every other character that was seen in small Behind-The-Scenes works doesn't seem to have much relevance. There are secondary characters, but they don't seem to be connected as a team, unlike many other secondary characters from Dreamworks.

Now, here's the "conspiracy theory": I believe one of the reasons "Me and My Shadow" was cancelled is that it could not be adapted as a DreamWorks franchise. The story would have been concluded in the movie, the characters didn't need to be developed more, and none of the secondary cast could work as a team. Could they have made some shorts based on it? Probably yes, but a short is not a serie. DreamWorks seems to have more interest in shows than shorts (remember: most franchises have at least a SHOW, not a short!).

With that being said, I'd like to end this post by doing some advertisement for this movie, even if it never got a chance to be finished. Everytime I find a new clip I am filled with pure joy. "Me and My Shadow" deserves to be made. -Shout-out to SQUIDWORD15 on YouTube for finding mANY unfinished clips. Bless this fella

#I will never forgive DreamWorks for this #justice for my Shadow Dan boy #me and my shadow #me and my shadow dreamworks #daniel grubb #shadow dan #random #analysis

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nilusanimationworld · 1 year

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So....the KFP4 plot huh? WHEW! I really needed DAYS to process all this & uh...I think I’m finally ready to talk about it?

Also before I start saying anything please note that I may share few more EXTRA details. Where did I get the details? Welllll? I may have cheated & decided to spoil myself a bit to get more stuff out. Although I promise I’m not gonna share any images & go deep to spoil movie. To be honest I myself only managed to get like only 5% extra details. Also reason I had to spoil myself to dig this deep by talking with the person who got this stuff personally from CinemaCon is that I’ve seen a lot posts saying most of you all have GIVEN UP on the franchise after the plot news was out. Granted some of the plot is not making sense. I myself had to read like 100x to process all in. But giving up on the franchise? I still can’t do that. KFP has a special place in my heart. I’m not saying I’m here to rescue by giving you guys hope. Instead I’d highly suggest you all to keep the expectations low....LIKE REAL LOW! The higher we’re setting the bar the more disappointing results we’re gonna get. Some things so far I found does give us a little hope of light & some are well....meh?

ALSO PLEASE NOTE IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET SPOILED I’D HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM REDDIT & TWITTER FOR A WHILE! ESPECIALLY DO NOT USE THE KUNG FU PANDA 4 HASHTAG ON TWITTER

|| SPOILERS UNDER CUT ||

So first let’s just start with the villain herself. The Chameleon. Turns Kate Mckinnon is voicing the villain & her design so far is actually not bad? So far it actually looks good. Only way I could describe her looks is that she’s giving me a bit Shen mixed with bit of Viper vibes. Elegance is the only word I can describe her. Since its only a storyboard image sadly. Its not even a concept art image.

As for her abilities/powers! Ooooh I hate Dreamworks here for baiting us saying this Chameleon can ‘summon’ the old villains. I know they’re doing this for keeping this a surprise or something idk but whatever the CinemaCon fans saw are completely different from the whole summoning idea. Apparently turns out she IS THE ONE HERSELF who can turn into TAI LUNG, SHEN & KAI. SHE’S A SHAPESHIFTER! Which is no surprise since she is a Chameleon & they’re known for changing colors. So I really don’t see the point why Dreamworks made movie news blogs & reports saying & using the word “SUMMON” which is completely different from “Shapeshifting”? Another thing this is gonna disappoint a lot of Tia Lung, Shen & Kai fans because i’ve seen a lot over excited fans who are waiting for a rematch Especially a Po vs Tai Lung. I’m so sorry guys but these guys are not coming back. They originals are dead DEAD!

She’s also gonna shift into one of Po’s biggest challenger yet too. I’m not mentioning this one this is worth saving it for the movie or the trailer. I hope they save this surprise of the MOVIE ONLY

So far for me the villain actually does sound & look promising. Whoever came up with Chameleon shapeshifting idea is actually pretty darn smart. My only concern is that she doesn’t become one of jokester type villains since its Kate Mckinnon who’s voicing. So yeah...that’s the villain info

Now for the fox character Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? LMAO y’all have no idea how many different spellings I had to come across to get this character info! The funny part is people are even changing the fox’s gender in some articles which is really weird because its Awkwafina who is gonna voice her. So far we only know that she’s gonna be shown as a thief first? And later as Po’s student? Her design? No idea. For now.

Judging by Awkwafina’s past animated characters like Sisu & Ms Tarantula I’m assuming the character might be some playful, sneaky, childish, cunning type of a fox character since the fox is gonna be introduced first as thief? idk this is just my thoughts? Bonus if she turns out to be some annoying teenager or young adult who would try to get on Po’s nerves during their adventure.Kinda to give Po taste of his own medicine & realize how difficult it is for Shifu & Tigress who has to deal with Po’s shenanigans.

Also I won’t be surprised if the Fox too has some very similar backstory like Po or Tigress. I’m really getting a feeling the story is gonna be about misunderstood fox who most likely could be either an orphan or abandon by family/villagers or something

Okay so now comes the plot. We all know that Po is gonna get promoted to higher master position & he has to find new Dragon Warrior...yaddy-yaddy-yadda! Apparently their gonna show Po finding Chen/Zhen/Zhan/Chan (SOMEONE PLEASE CONFIRM WHAT’S HER REAL SPELLING!) in the museum where Po is....patrolling? (i’ll be honest this info is a little confusing because I really don’t see why Po of all people is patrolling at the museum especially since now he’s in a bigger position....like why?) So after he finds her & catches her & stuff & she tells about Chameleon & later go on this adventure (Oop! Dragon Knight plot?) to city where the Chameleon resides & here comes the typical Mike Mitchell writing. Take a wild guess what the city is gonna filled with? We had got Wolves for the Gongmen City right? Now what could be MORE DANGEROUS THAN WOLVES? Hmmmmm? Well.....

LADIES & GENTLEMEN! WE’RE GONNA GET CUTE EVIL BUNNIES! WHEW....LET. THAT. SINK. IN

This really reminds me of one episode in LoA where Po had to deal with his past bully which was also a BUNNY! Funny part of that episode was that even Tigress had hard time believing Po couldn’t fight his bully bunny enemy & constantly reminded Po how tiny the bunny is which pissed & offended Mantis off. Anyways back to the main topic.

Now I’m not gonna sugar coat this one. The plot STILL very much does sound very off & very animated series level of writing. Also the person has confirmed this movie is gonna have more of comedy BUT (here’s the hopeful part or at least I’m hoping) the thing is all this info is just like 10 or 20% of the plot. There could be chances that we could still get some emotional stuff since Dreamworks is known for hiding & saving the emotional stuff strictly only for the movie. Remember Puss In Boots? The trailer gives us more of action & the idea of the plot meanwhile the scenes like Puss feeling guilty about not attending his own wedding, the anxiety scene, Goldie’s wish scene & Perrito’s back story all this was saved for the movie. So yeah I am still keeping 5% hope we do get some heavy stuff especially if this movie really does turn out to be the FINAL CHAPTER. Who knows that those storyboards were only the main stuff just to give idea & furious five too MIGHT be there during the adventure but their all split up or something? Idk man I’m just saying.

Where is Shifu? Furious Five? Po’s dads? The Other Pandas? OKAY....uh...so far uh....sadly I’ve no freaking idea where the hell are Po’s dads or the pandas? I’m just gonna assume all the pandas have settled down in Valley of Peace & living regular lives. Po’s dads I’m assuming running the restaurant? There’s sadly no info on this one. Although I really wished his dads would’ve played important role in this one since its gonna be lot difficult for Po to take in his new position & to pass his Dragon Warrior title.

As for Shifu & the Five. We are gonna get them but we’re told they’re NOT gonna be part of the adventure or what so far the storyboards was shown at Cinema Con din’t have much of them. I am still like 3% hopeful for this one since the guy mentioned these were only the boards which were shown there could be chances the changes can be made. But if the movie really is only focusing on Po, the fox & the Chameleon than I’m assuming we might get very few cut scenes of Furious Five & Shifu. Back & forth scenes like they did in KFP3. Either that or the Furious Five are having some other separate mission & hence that’s why Po decides to go solo with the fox.

THIS IS WHY!!! THIS IS WHY WE NEED A WHOLE SEPARATE FURIOUS FIVE SPIN OFF MOVIE

Now for the big question; Why isn’t Po giving his Dragon Warrior title to any from the Furious Five? Especially to Tigress?! OH BOY! When I came across the articles saying Po is gonna have to find new Dragon Warrior replacement my mind too immediately went on Tigress! HECK! EVEN MY MOM SAID THIS! Also I had the whole KFP1 movie flashed in front of my eyes Especially the scene of Tai Lung screaming at Shifu telling him about how he filled Tai Lung's head with Dragon Warrior dreams & trained him hard till his bones cracked & Shifu & The Furious Five being sour & bitter towards Po in beginning...I understand now...I FREAKING UNDERSTAND THE PAIN THEY WERE GOING THROUGH TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT THEY ALL TRAINED THE HELL OUT OF THEMSELVES FOR THIS DAMN TITLE EVEN GOING TO EXTEND THE GET THEIR BONES CRACKED & END UP GETTING NOTHING & instead some random noodle folk panda fell from the sky with no whatsoever kung fu skills gets the title...YUP I UNDERSTAND THE RAGE NOW. AND THIS SHIT IS HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD THIS DRAGON WARRIOR TITLE IS SUCH A FREAKING CURSE!! GODDAMN OOGWAY!!

BUT...BUT...Here's the thing what we also see is that Five...ESPECIALLY TIGRESS never had that desperate goal for Dragon Warrior title in the first place. We all know at this point well aware that Tigress only wanted to get the Dragon Warrior title is because she wanted to make Shifu proud but after seeing Shifu finally being more compassionate and the older playful self again thanks to Po. Tigress doesn't hold that grudge or jealousy anymore towards Po. Which same goes for the five since they were already warming up towards Po before Shifu & Tigress.

I know most of us & myself deep down all wanted Tigress to get the title since she has gone through hell the most right from her Bao Gu days but Tigress has made it very much clear that she's moved on from the whole wanting Dragon Warrior title and she's become her own warrior

Now in Tai Lung's case. Even though Tai Lung says he did all that training to make Shifu proud but it was clear that Tai Lung was already blinded & thirsty for the Dragon Warrior power the most (Thanks to Shifu). Heck! Shifu himself admits this that his pride blinded him so badly he turned Tai Lung into a monster.

So yeah I know right now we're all disappointed that Po isn't giving his title to any of the furious five but to some random fox (who is a thief...wow..nice choice Po) but let's not forget that's how even Po's story started & we'll just have to wait & watch to see Po taking Shifu's role as master & trains this fox character.

Also I’ll make a separate post on how Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? (I SERIOUSLY STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER REAL SPELLING IS) on how she could earn the Dragon Warrior title. That’s not gonna be a spoiler post that is just gonna be an analyzing post or how I can see it happening

And lastly can we trust Mike Mitchell?...OOOOOH BOY! Judging by his past projects I would say it’s a little concerning but lets not forget even Joel Crawford had made some not so very successful projects in the past as well & years later Puss In Boots 2 became one of his best & successful projects yet. I’m not so concern of Mike my main concern is what exactly happen to Jennifer Yuh Nelson for not being part of this so sudden? I remember in interview she had mentioned if she really decided to make all 6 chapters like Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested she really wanted to make a complete beautiful necklace franchise for Po’s journey! Heck to be honest the third movie itself WAS ENOUGH AS A PERFECT END TO THE CHAPTER! It really did give us a perfect trilogy I honestly don’t know why or what made them to give us fourth. This whole retiring thing & passing on torch has been a very common plot trend in most animated/anime/comic medias lately. Anyways. Too late now. Lets see how this chapter turns out.

So....uh..yeah I guess that's it? I tried my best to keep this post with some positive stuff just to you know...lighten up? The thing is we can't say much anything right now because the movie is still in beginning/mid (storyboarding) stage. Its still too early. Changes still can happen hence we cant say much yet. Jack himself mentions that its too early for the trailer. So yeah its very common at times last moments some ideas could have changes.

Only word of advice to the pandom I'm gonna give is be a little more patient. I myself needed DAYS to process & break it down. If we have waited this long we just going to have to wait a little longer. My guess on getting the first teaser we could most likely get it in... August or September (this year)? I'm calculating according to how we got Puss In Boots trailer. The trailer was released in June & the movie was released in December.

We just gonna have to play the waiting game a little long & PRAY!! LOTS & LOTS OF PRAYERS (& INNER PEACE) THIS MOVIE DOESN'T RUIN THE FRANCHISE!! That is all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts or can private DM me!

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dynared · 29 days

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Oh boy do I agree with your assessment that Skybound is able to execute its concepts much better than Earthspark! Despite Skybound technically being another G1 continuity, it feels fresh and original and fun, and DWJ has managed to take something old and turn it into something new, an area in which Earthspark failed somewhat. I mean, I respect what they tried to do, but due to so much being told rather than shown (ie, that one moment where Hashtag asked JB if Megatron’s harrowing story of redemption wasn’t the most beautiful thing he had ever heard? really felt like we were being told to like Megatron rather than simply shown a likeable Megatron, compared to those scenes with OP and the deer, OP saving Spike and a bunch of others with the Matrix, and him bonding with Sparkplug. It just feels more organic, ya know? And it lets the viewer form their own opinions without trying to constantly nudge them into thinking a certain way) made watching it very frustrating, and it felt like the writers were trying to tell us what to think about certain characters, and overall just not letting the story breathe and take shape on its own

Maybe it's just the differences between the mediums (namely the issue of budget for a CG show that reuses assets to save money), or maybe it's the quality and styles of the writers (Robert Kirkman and Daniel Warren Johnson are comic writers, first and foremost), but Skybound, throughout all of the Energon Universe, not just Transformers, has been very good at visual storytelling. Seeing reactions to events, having expressions and scenes tell the story in a way that if just described in the text would fall flat on its face, which in turn creates a richer world. Even in a book like the most recent issue of Cobra Commander, where the main battle is a battle of wits and words, the expressions, the surroundings, and the visuals create something that worlds alone, dialogue alone could not convey.

"Show, don't tell" is a basic tenant of writing, one that every writing teacher worth their salt will preach to their students. However, I can only blame so much of that difference on the medium. While Earthspark will never have the visual spectacle of the Skybound comics (there's a reason I want them animated by Studio Trigger) a lot of it is the writers themselves, who really want to beat the morals and messages of the story into your skull without any care for subtlety or nuance, especially Mae Catt, whose rejected script for a Drift episode had him married to Ratchet and debating a spiritual vs. pragmatic viewpoint with all the subtlety of a brick (and considering how badly Nightshade went over to the point the show got put on blast on Fox News, it's no wonder it was turned down and Catt was apparently let go for Season 2).

I'd forgive even that under the idea that it's a show for a much younger audience than the Energon Universe is for, but then you run into the issue of treating kids like morons, which kids hate. Even Marc Summers (host of Double Dare) pointed out on Quiet on the Set that the attraction of Nickelodeon to kids was that it didn't try to educate, talk down to, or preach to kids (which probably explains why he appeared so horrified at Dan Schneider's antics, but that's another story). Although noting that handicap that it's for kids goes back to a more obvious question, why would kids be invested in what's essentially a pseudo-sequel to a cartoon that ended its initial run of episodes in 1988, before some of their parents were even born? The franchise is literally 40 years old this year, and it's been 35 years since the last initial run of episodes aired, re-cut with a kid talking to a cardboard Powermaster Optimus Prime (while Japan was watching Star Saber battle Deathsaurus and his Decepticon forces). Why would kids connect to something they didn't see, aren't shown, and generally are only told in speeches why they should care about it? Skybound took the time to introduce everyone, in contrast, and make you care, even if you've been apathetic to the Robots in Disguise after years of poorly selling IDW comics that were only for a very specific subsection of a hardcore fan, and gave us reasons to care about the cast outside of the cast telling us why we should care.

Maybe Season 2 (which is going to air somewhere, Hasbro seems to have Paramount obligated to do so) will improve these issues, but I seriously doubt it. I just want Earthspark to finish at this point so we can get something else, even if, in a best-case scenario, an Energon Universe adaptation will take years to be feasible. At least Transformers One seems to be getting good feedback from test screenings.

#transformers #transformers earthspark #skybound #transformers skybound #tf skybound #energon universe #earthspark

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kiigan · 28 days

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canon questionnaire.

what made you pick up this character?

Itachi was actually my first ever rp muse! Allllllll the way back when, when we didn't even know the truth about the massacre and Pein was only a silhouette and believed to be Minato but actually called Uzumaki Arashi. Good ol' days. But also - I picked him because I was just so drawn to his backstory, or lack thereof. At the time we only knew he was Sasuke's older brother who apparently had gone psycho out of the blue, and I just had this hunch that there had to be more about that mess. Also because, honestly, do you realize how cool Itachi's first appearance was.

how did you get into this franchise/fandom?

I got into Naruto because my first boyfriend was a big fan and introduced me to it lmao. And then I introduced my best friend and we started writing together just for funsies, and then suddenly our whole group of friends joined in and it became a glorious mess and so much fun.

what’s the best thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

I mean... it's the typical shonen anime? So it provides super cool battles and action sequences, as expected. But, not to be biased, I totally am the Akatsuki are one of the coolest antagonist groups ever created. I put them on legendary levels such as the Ginyu Force from Dragon Ball.

what’s the worst thing about the show/series/books/comics/etc.?

Probably the ungodly amount of fillers. I understand why they happen but, personally, I would much rather wait and go for a few months without content than to be presented with low-effort ideas and plots that, often, only ruin the pacing and even provoke continuity errors. And I gotta say, Kishimoto's treatment of female characters is questionable at best.

what’s the best thing about the fandom?

The fandom itself! Fandoms are what we make of them, and especially on a website such as tumblr where you are responsible for curating your own dashboard experience (...if we do not count the stupid tumblr ads and recommendations). Meeting new people with similar interests, the possibility to make friends that live literally on the other side of the world, getting to write with super talented people that develop your own muse so much, watching people get passionate about their muse(s) and creating such wonderful headcanons and metas.

what’s the worst thing about the fandom?

Again, the fandom itself. There are nice people and toxic people everywhere and that's unavoidable. In my humble opinion, what matters is to focus on the good ones.

what’s the best thing about the canon you are writing?

Itachi's whole story breaks my heart. At the same time, there is A LOT about him that was never disclosed in canon (even with the Shinden novels) and I love to explore those parts. I love to imagine stuff like what would his hobbies be, how would he react to [insert situation], how would he get along with [insert character] if they met. One of my favorite things, at the moment, is to create headcanons for my post-war verse and to create my own canon about how Itachi would adapt to things such as now being practically blind, having to properly monitor his illness, his thoughts and emotions about returning to Konoha, how to try to fix things with Sasuke, etc etc - it's been so much fun!

what’s the worst thing about the canon you are writing?

Uhhh nothing really? I mean, there are the general issues about Naruto as a whole, but regarding Itachi specifically I can't really think of any huge problems right now. Other than him being dead T-T

have you tweaked the character from canon? if so, what did you tweak?

No and yes. No, because I try my best to be as in-character as possible and to be faithful to Itachi's nature as a character. But, yes, because I write a lot of canon-divergent verses and those obviously require adapting. Even in purely canon settings, I'd say I tweak some stuff in that, for example, I love writing Itachi as a quirky child (and then teen and adult) and as a very caring and nurturing person, even when he cannot openly show it. It's totally fine if not everybody agrees with my interpretation but, to me, it makes a lot of sense and gives me a lot of joy to write.

are there some things you dislike about how the show/series/etc. portray the character you have picked up? if so, what?

I wouldn't say I dislike... but also because, all in all, Itachi doesn't have much screen time lol. So there isn't much of a chance for Kishimoto to screw him over. I would, however, have loved a chance to see Itachi ponder on the circumstances that led to the massacre - for example, does he grow to regret his choice as he gets older? He does this reflection a bit when talking to Naruto during the Edo Tensei period, but that wasn't enough for me damn it! Also, while we're here, I'm gonna be forever salty that, in that same period, we were denied a chance for Itachi to reunite with Kisame and with Shisui.

what would you say is the most unique trait about your character?

Itachi has a lot of idiosyncrasies, which is one of the reasons why I love him. Little quirky nerd weasel~ Perhaps the most unique trait, however, is his idealism. He was severely traumatized by the third war and that is the basis for his idealism but, at the same time, he truly believes in what he preaches. He truly believes that he can get strong enough to make this world a better place and this is the sort of undying motivation to do good that, for example, I only see in Shisui. Of course, a lot of other characters have their own strong motivations (Naruto himself being the easiest example), but these two Uchiha idiots are mostly the ones who commit to the there's some good in this world and it's worth fighting for mindset.

are there any other characters from the franchise you’d like to play?

On discord, I have written little bits and pieces of Kimimaro, Temari, and Rock Lee.

are there some characters from the franchise you can’t stand?

I can't stand Danzo for all the obvious reasons, but that's also exactly why I love him as a villain. And, um... the same applies to Hiruzen, in a way. I do believe that Hiruzen is a man with good intentions, but he always falls victim to his own passiveness. The way Itachi goes to him after having literally just murdered his parents and traumatized his little brother for life and all Hiruzen can say is I'm so sorry this happened. Hiruzen is just a gutless Danzo, resting on the laurels of the whole Will of Fire spiel.

what are your thoughts on the canon ships for the character, if any?

Honestly, I'm not even sure if Itachi has a canon ship? Izumi is supposed to be his girlfriend but at the same time it can easily be taken as Izumi having an unrequited crush. Personally, I think they are very cute together but I would have loved to see more development other than to make it like "let's give Itachi a gf because he's cool and needs a girl to dangle as a trophy".

what is your personal ship bias for your canon character?

I am dying on the Kisame/Itachi hill and unapologetically so. Their bond is so special and precious to me, the way they grow from not-so-veiled death threats upon first meeting to genuinely respecting each other. The way Kisame, known as the Monster of the Bloody Mist, lets this scrawny Uchiha kid take the lead and trusts him without reserves. The way Itachi cares, even if he must keep up his detached psychopath persona, and keeps Kisame out of harm's way whenever he feels a battle won't go in his favor. THEIR MATCHING RINGS, IN BOTH THE FINGER POSITION AND THE SYMBOL MEANING. And the way Itachi is literally what Kisame thinks of as he's about to offer himself to his sharks. All of this is so *CLENCHES FIST*

are there any ships you can’t stand, why?

...Um. Sasuke/Itachi.

how long have you been writing the character?

Technically, for almost two decades. Not continuously so. If we are talking about this blog only, then it's been since January 2024.

should people get into the franchise you're writing from, yes or no?

I mean, sure? If they like the franchise and have characters they would like to write? I don't see why not.

if you could sum up your character with one sentence, what would it be?

I already did it above, so: Little Quirky Nerd Weasel

which song do you feel describes your character the most and why?

I have a few, actually! For some examples: "Gasoline", by Halsey, "Second Chance", by Shinedown, "The World of Mercy", by DIR EN GREY (this one is particularly👌👌👌for my villain verse). I think they're very Itachi-coded in both lyrics and melody. And, of course, the song in my pinned post: "Scarlet", by Yamaoka Akira. This song is peak Itachi vibes, especially when you look into his eyes. And, uh. Generally, almost all DIR EN GREY songs inspire me a lot to write his replies, because a lot of them are also the songs that I started writing him to, all those years back.

tagged by : @sagemom ♡ tagging : if you're reading this you're tagged by default~

#[dash games]#[ooc] i hope itachi is having a good day #[queued post]#long post

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thenightling · 1 month

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire review

I saw Ghostbusters Frozen Empire last night. And here is my review. It was decent but very flawed. I will list the flaws first to get them over with while I'm thinking about it. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the fourth film in the original Ghostbusters franchise. it mostly deals with an ancient God getting unleashed. It's kind of ironic that the first heavy snow for most of the US came on the night of this movie's release.

There are many things I love about the film and I will list those last. First let's get the negative out of the way. The first is the script feels a bit confused. Some wording doesn't quite make sense, like multiple writers were trying to put the script together and didn't communicate well. I'm not too keen on the reveal that the Containment unit (where they store the captured ghosts) is just a "giant ghost trap." Ghostbusters: Afterlife already dealt with a "giant ghost trap" and it was very different. I much prefer how it was handled in The Real Ghostbusters animated series where the interior of The Containment unit was like a pocket dimension or version of limbo.

I don't like the dismissive "It was the eighties. No one was thinking about the future." Yes, they were.

I also don't like that they talk about "disposing" of ghosts while in the next breath it's revealed that the "Disposing of" is placing them in a new, bigger containment unit (with an interior "The size of the American West.") Now that's more like the animated series version. But the wording "disposed of" is weird when you know they mean capture and transport.

I also felt there was a bit of queer baiting with Phoebe and Melody (the ghost she befriends). There are some moments where I felt it looked like they were about to kiss. Not only that but the way Melody was introduced was off putting for me. It was almost like the audience was supposed to briefly mistake her as Egon's ghost returning and you sense that Phoebe was disappointed that it was not him.

Patton Oswalt was mostly just a glorified cameo but at least he got to give useful information even if he was just an "exposition faery."

Slimer was mostly there just to eat the other ghost called The Possessor. And how does a ghost eat another ghost? Even if Possessor was inside a pizza at the time. Wouldn't he just… go right through him? Since when is Slimer The Ghostbusters version of Kirby?

I also wish there was more use of pop and rock music like in the original first two Ghostbusters movies and the use of Cruel Summer in the first trailer for Ghostbusters Frozen Empire.

I also thought it was odd how easily Phoebe was tricked. I know a lot of intelligent people can be very naive but this was more than naive. It was a lampshaded (because the movie addreses how foolish she felt) "Plot induced stupidity."

My final complaint was Phoebe's (implied to be right) deduction that when a ghost settles their unfinished business and finds peace the ghost's particle disperse and the ghost becomes "part of the fabric of the universe." Too me this gives too much certainty to one particular "This is what happens after we die." And much like the "disposed of" like this is sort of contradicted as well because several times it's also suggested that even the ghosts that find peace are in tact somewhere.

I also couldn't quite tell if Paul Rudd's character had married Egon's daughter or not. They're obviously a couple but did they marry? If it was confirmed or not I must have missed it. I do like that Phoebe did call him Dad near the end though. That was sweet.

There's a bit of a sloppiness to the writing.

It also felt like the story didn't really get going until about three fourths into the movie.

The writing is the weakest part of the movie but there were things and ideas that I did like. I love the idea of Winston essentially forming the Ghostbusters equivalent of The Men in Black (that's how it feels). I love his research facility. I love his tech. I love that Ray was more pro-active in this and Peter Venkman got some new, good one liners. and he actually got the function as a real (though still manipulative) parapsychologist.

I love the use of practical effects. I always welcome tactile, real, old fashioned special effects over CG.

I still think Phoebe is a fantastic character and love her.

I do like that the new containment unit is going to be more like the version from the animated series and take up the psychic equivalent of the American West. But I still don't understand why the first containment unit was reduced to having just been "a giant ghost trap."

I do like Winston as the Ghostbusters equivalent of Nick Fury.

And I also liked that the movie had a feel to it similar to an episode of The Real Ghostbusters animated series.

I am also glad for the established tradition that each movie now ends with the original Ghostbusters theme song. I hope they keep that up. It always makes me smile. I liked it but I do think it's the weakest in the original franchise. Ghostbusters: Afterlife was better. As a Ghostbusters fan I won't say it was bad. I am likely to watch it again. And I still think it's better than Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. (Pretty much anything is better than that).

It's flawed but fun. It's just a decent popcorn movie.

And as a life-long Ghostbusters junkie I do hope more things come from this despite all the cynical articles saying to let the franchise die.

One article I saw whined about how they didn't know what demographic / target audience for the movie was. So? Who cares? I don't want a movie for a specific age group, gender, etc. I want a movie that multiple generations and people of all cultures can like. If I can say "Oh, this movie is for twelve-year-old boys." or "Oh, this is for thirty-something men." or "This is for college age women." i tend to get bored and see it as pandering. Just tell a good story and the audience will find it.

This isn't the best Ghostbusters movie ever made but it's not the worst either. It's just the weakest of the original continuity but it is still enjoyable. I liked it.

#Ghostbusters #Ghostbusters Frozen Empire #Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

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omsrandom · 9 months

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Aight, I have a wild FNAF Theory about Security Breach. RUIN DLC Spoilers ahead!

Yknow how we don't know the Crying Child's name? The one who got his head bit off by Fredbear? And how his ghost shares Golden Freddy/Fredbear with Cassidy?

Well, with the new DLC, we're introduced to Cassie, a friend of Gregory's.

I think it's a bit sus that a game, mainly about Freddy trying to help a child escape death and thus is considered the "golden star", has two children in it, who are close. Two children, who are both obsessed with the Freddy's franchise.

Two children, one of who's name is very similar to another named character in the series.

In the same series where we theorized Michael Afton and Mike Schmidt were the same person, and somehow it was true.

I think Cassie and Cassidy are the same. It would make sense as why, when she puts on the VANNI mask, she can hear what Gregory heard during Security Breach.

Cassidy was always vengeful, and most likely realized, like Charlette, that Michael wasn't William and went after him, dragging the Crying Child with her. I think it was confirmed that Freddy has parts from the other versions in him, which would make sense if you consider this:

Gregory wasn't real.

He was the ghost of the Crying Child that the animatronics (and Vanessa, given the VR game) could see due to the old parts (Roxy getting some of the Foxys and Monty getting Bonnie's after they found him scrapped). It explains why he's so tiny, but also why he can easily go into Freddy's holding area without much issue.

Cassidy was busy trying to find William, and once she realized CC/Gregory was in danger, she tried to go after him.

This theory is a mess, but if we try to detangle it, it does clue in on a lot of details:

Cassidy and Roxy never met!

They didn't, but as stated above, if, like Freddy, they used parts from the older animatronics, Roxy was probably Foxy! We have no idea who Cassidy's favorite animatronic was, so going on a limb and saying Freddy first, Foxy second wouldn't be a stretch. Since Foxy is now Roxy, it again makes sense that since Freddy is largely seen as a traitor to the other animatronics and out of the picture, Roxy is now the favorite.

Gregory betrays Cassie in the end!

Yes, he does. With this theory, it's CC lashing out, taking over Fredbear and leaving her alone to the hunt for William. CC is tired, and with the Mimic, he knows if it gets out, she'll keep them there until the world ends. So, he chooses peace, and disappears. To Cassidy, who shared a suit with him, it would no doubt feel like the elevator had given out. He had just betrayed her in the worst way possible to a dead 7 year old.

I probably have more to add but for now, I'm at, like, a 95% on believing this theory.

#FNAF #five nights at freddy's #fnaf security breach #security breach ruin #five nights at freddy's security breach #FNAFSB #fnaf theory #five nights at freddy's theory #theory

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pinkautist · 1 year

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i have another VERY original question!! top 5 video games :3

YIPPEE another question! i actually don't know if i actually even HAVE five favorite games, but i'll try this!

Bloodborne

Persona 3/4/5

Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates

Pokémon (can't pick a favorite game so i'm going with the franchise)

WorldNeverland - Elnea Kingdom

bloodborne gets to be at the top of this list, even though it's largely unorganized, MAINLY BECAUSE it pretty much saved my life back in 2018 or something. i got extremely good at the game, despite how difficult it was, and it apparently happened so fast that my boyfriend that the time became jealous ^^" it's a great game that accurately portrays eldritch horror with a really neat lore that i really could go on for hours about.

i listed the persona games as one because i got into one because of the other and i played all of them around the same time, so. as i've told my mom, in terms of aesthetic, persona 5 is my favorite, and in terms of characterization, persona 4 is my favorite, but persona 3 holds a special place in my heart because it was the first one i'd ever played. the persona series is really neat because it introduced me to a lot of eastern psychology theories, such as the idea of the shadow self and whatnot. it also introduced me to the concept of the subconscious manipulating how people view and interact with the world, and just. a lot of neat psychology things. it's another series that i could just go on and on about LOL

the first fire emblem game i ever played was awakening. i was playing it while my mom and sister were, and i vividly remember talking to and recruiting gaius, and then talking to my mom and sister about it and them just exchanging a look and being like, "YOU CAN RECRUIT HIM????" turns out, they had BOTH killed him during the battle LOL another memorable one was fates. i had played the conquest route first, and BOY, did that one MAKE ME CRY. to this day, my mom is STILL afraid to play that route, simply because my reaction was so raw.

and, well, of COURSE pokémon makes this list. your girl is autistic. that was my first ever hyperfixation. i had memorized type strengths and weaknesses before the age of ten, which i think has really influenced how i play games now. also, notice how many of these are turn-based games? yeah. i think pokémon had to do with that, too.

and worldneverland gets to be on this list! it's a mobile game that's been ported to switch, and while i am playing the mobile version, i WILL be buying the switch version when it goes in sale. i just bought a new switch because my old one was dying, so my bank account is kind of hurting 🥲 worldneverland is, like, the ULTIMATE life sim. you move into a kingdom as a traveler, and if you like it, you can become a citizen. from there you marry and have children while working to earn work points so you can make money. once you're done with your current character, you can pass down to one of your children while retaining all items from your previous life and pick a different career. it's really fun!

#ask #yamjooon #my uncertainty in the beginning does not even begin to prepare you for the length of my response #i assure you that i ended up thinking about this for a good 20 minutes LOL #really fucked me up (in a funny way) being like 'huh. what games DO i like??'

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jadeykitties · 1 year

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the thing is everyone thinks they have what it takes to reinvent scooby doo but half the time they’re running on half-informed memories of the original series with no attempts to even LOOK into what came after, repeating the same superficial jokes that are regurgitated by pop cultural consciousness based on assumptions - without actually understanding the source material!

which is FINE when it comes to fanwork like fanart and fanfiction - doesn’t interest me, i don’t like it, but it’s objectively fine. i’m not expecting a casual viewer or artist who is drawing something for fun to have intimate and extensive understanding of scooby doo’s history as a franchise. but it’s not so fine when you’ve got big productions who keep doing the same thing over and over but INSIST theyre REVITALIZING and REIMAGINING the franchise, that they’re BREAKING NEW GROUND and whatever else they want to claim, and yet. falling into the same pitfalls as anyone else who is barely familiar with the source material they’re trying to produce new content for, backed by corporations.

for example people will make jokes about hating scrappy and how he’s the worst but not having ever watched the series where he’s introduced, or any of the ones following that used his character! relying only on the pop cultural impression that he sucked (he literally saved the franchise but whatever) or relying on the live action scooby doo! so you have to ask, how familiar with scrappy are they actually! what do they actually KNOW about scrappy? do they just regurgitate the opinion of another for lack of knowledge, or is the distaste founded on their own perspective following a watch of the series he stars in?

similarly, people will make all kinds of claims about the members of mystery inc without actually knowing a thing about them as introduced in the original series - thinking of fred as the jock when shaggy is actually the jock, and fred is more of a nerd like velma. though granted fred did become kind of jock-adjacent in what’s new scooby doo, so it’s not really inaccurate... but, like. without understanding fred’s character they’ll insist he’s just some boring guy and assume that because he’s not as gangly looking as shaggy, he’s the self-centered stereotypical popular guy jock when that’s not really a true thing in the actual animated series (until, you know.) - really, he’s more like velma than shaggy is. and so they’ll go and they’ll make their pitches based on this preconception of who those characters are, and they’ll insist they did something new! and yet it’ll be the same thing someone has already done, with no unique twist because it was all based on a farce to begin with.

so anyways, while a lot of what scooby doo: mystery incorporated did wrong was a dealbreaker in terms of what i’m willing to put up with in a work of fiction, it also did a lot right and took inspiration from a lot of previous scooby doo works - though i don’t even know why they created barty and nan to be daphne’s parents when ned and elizabeth already existed and franky with how many sisters daphne had it would have made more sense for daphne’s mother to be a thicker woman than nan was but i digress. it was still rather clear that there was a lot of inspiration from previous works incorporated into sdmi, and it did a decent job of setting up both a series-long storyline with mystery AND episode-to-episode mysteries and stakes. and although i don’t like what it did with daphne’s entire character and relationship with fred, or the handling of shaggy and velma’s relationship - it still was able to do something new without claiming they were improving anything or otherwise reinventing the wheel.

so if anyone gets the idea they can reinvent the wheel, they should definitely be forced to do more research into the subject before finalizing their pitches. need more ian flynns and francisco angones...es... and less randos who don’t care that much about the characters they get to play with, getting to helm any kind of big project involving the scooby doo cast. like, watching the original series and sdmi as research, at the very least. ideally a pup named scooby doo and be cool scooby doo also but that one’s personal preferences. that’s not even getting into the hanna-barbera scooby doo sequels following the original series prior to apnsd serving as the catalyst for returning everything back to the basics, or any of the animated movies that i feel are also valuable to the franchise, like zombie island, witch’s ghost, and cyberchase... ect... there’s a lot out there, man, there’s a lot that’s been done with the gang, i don’t see why you’d go out of your way to insist that the characters have all ALWAYS been boring and there’s NEVER been new or different things done with them! you’re not going to be the one who invents the wheel! it’s already invented! just build a cool ass cart and get your ass across the finish line.

and on an unrelated note, for the love of god bring back marcie fleach. i’m tired of this

#jadey chitchattering #scabby da blog

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amplesalty · 6 months

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Halloween 2023 - Day 7 - Halloween Ends (2022)

Does Halloween End with a bang or a whimper?

So, not quite Day 31 but this is indeed Halloween Ends in every sense of the word. Not just the season but the very franchise itself…sort of. But we'll come back to that. This is the last of the David Gordon Green directed trilogy, a man who has taken a sharp turn into horror in the last few years after that little stretch into stoner comedy back in the late 00's, early 10's. After this trilogy, he's moved onto The Exorcist with the newly released Believer, with another sequel Deciever planned in 2025. That seems to have opened to fairly poor reviews so we'll see if they'll make it to that next sequel. I kinda fell off that franchise after the third one but since we've wrapped up Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm St, there might be room for it to slip into the schedule.

Speaking of poor reviews, I remember this time last year when this was getting a lot of negative feedback. I managed to keep myself at a distance in terms of plot, trailers etc and only really had a vague sense of the feedback to go on where the word 'weird' kept coming up, in that it's weird for a Halloween film. That is something I would agree with but, for me, it's a good weird.

Does it reflect badly on me that the opening of this movie elicited a laugh from me? Not like a belly laugh or anything, I do tend to have this almost nervous laugh as an immediate reaction to something that should be considered scary or intense. And there's perhaps little more intense than a guy dropkicking a door open straight into the face of an 8 year old who is sent flying down a multi-storey building to his untimely death. Geez, this movie isn't fucking about, is it? Kids don't die in a Halloween movie, Michael Myers has at least some standards. Maybe that's what people were complaining about?

But the curious case of young Corey Cunningham, a young kid just trying to get through college before this accident sends his life into a tailspin is just the catalyst for the ever spiraling events of the movie but he's also a shining example of the kind of world building that I've come to love about these new movies. There's this idea that's brought up that for a town that has been living in the shadow of Michael Myers and his crimes for the last 40 years, and lest we forget still living in fear that he's still on the loose somewhere, Corey is the monster that the townspeople can see. He's the one that they can point their fingers at and unleash their angry energy towards. Arguably you're never going to have a good time of it if you kill a child, accident or no accident, but I like the idea that it's so much worse for him given that this is Haddonfield and it's residents are at the end of their tether with this whole thing.

Without wanting to delve too much into other people's criticisms at this stage before logging my thoughts, I am curious how much of it is down to the lack of Michael and the emphasis on Strode family drama, which is obviously something I was wanting them to lean into more in the 2018 Halloween so I was on board when it started playing out that way here. 'Where's Michael' is always the initial criticism of something like Halloween 3 and he is very much a peripheral character here. Or maybe it's more that as a movie presumably built up as this grand finale and a final showdown between Michael and Laurie, which we do get, felt like it was tacked on in a 'Okay, you sat through the meat and veg of our spin on Halloween so he's here's your treat.' Without going through the trailers and hype going into the movie I'm unsure if that's how they were building it but that's certainly the impression I got from the end of Halloween Kills.

After a run in with some punk kids, Corey is introduced to Laurie's granddaughter Allyson at the local hospital and the pair hit it off, a duo of nihilists whose trouble backgrounds seem to serve as a bit of a bonding experience. She's the survivor of a homicidal maniac, people think he is a homicidal maniac, they're just a perfect fit as they wallow in their collective misery and intent to watch the world burn.

But after another run in that leaves Corey injured, he's dragged into some sewers by a shadowy figure that we come to learn is Michael who promptly strangles Corey to near death but seemingly lets go. Michael is shown to be frail at times so did he just lose his strength, did Corey break free or did Michael see something in this youngsters eyes that made him set his victim free?

It's something that Laurie sees as well, particularly when Corey starts lurking outside her house like he's The Shape from 40 years ago. But as on the ball as she is, you do sound like the boy who cried wolf when you start protesting that he's 'just like Michael Myers' which is something you've been bleating on about for the past four decades. It's kinda like that meme about Boss Baby, when you spend your life fixated on Michael Myers then you're probably going to get a lot of Michael Myers vibes from this…

The only thing I am iffy on is the relationship between Corey and Michael. Corey is played off as this young apprentice of sorts but it's not as if Michael is readily accepting of help, even Dr. Sartain in 2018 he killed off pretty much the first chance he got even though they were meant to be buddy buddy. There are times when it looks like Corey thinks he's in control of Michael, which is probably just in his head, but there's moments when he's doing weird things with his hands and due to the scar he has, I did wonder briefly if they were going for some weird mark of the Cult of Thorn type thing here. I guess it is just this weird connection between them, like Michael understands this shared anguish they have or maybe a sort of 'passing the torch' thing given Michael's advancing years. Or maybe he just recognizes a greater evil than himself, like I said, even Michael knows when to draw the line when it comes to child murder so he's just paying his respects to Corey.

And I guess the ending in a way I'm a bit iffy on as well, specifically the Laurie/Michael showdown. I get that they felt obligated to include it, you probably would have had people rioting in the streets if you didn't show that after these 3 movies, never mind all the other ones in the franchise and especially given this is likely the last chance saloon for the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis. But the vibe I got from Halloween Kills was that there never was this connection between the two that Laurie seemed to play out in her head, it's all just some cosmic coincidence that she happened to be the one all those years ago so it seemed like plot convenience that Michael just happened to make his way out into the world now to track her down.

But the actual ending itself I really like because, spoiler warning, not only does she incapacitate him and slit pretty much every available appendage, they make sure this fucker is never coming back by taking him to a giant metal grinder that they promptly feed him into. Unless he's planning on reassembling the quivering piles of jelly T-1000 style, this guy is deader than he's ever been. Granted, they stopped short of burying whatever bits are left in a concrete filled coffin 2 miles beneath the Earth's surface like I would but they put a good shift in.

In the build up to that moment though, there's this whole procession where everyone in town shows up to witness this momentous occasion. Even when the cops look on uneasy about what's about to play out, like this isn't in the rule book, the sheriff from Halloween Kills shows up to stress that tonight it is. The whole moment is very cathartic, not only for the viewer in that we've finally seen good triumph over evil, but for the entire town of Haddonfield. Even if his timeline has been retconned six ways from Sunday over the years, it's almost as if every resident from every possible continuity is here to finally witness the moment his corpse is destroyed so they can get some closure on the vast body count he must have built up over these last 40 years.

So, whilst I can appreciate that people going into this movie last year with all that hype behind it might feel like they were on the end of a bait and switch, I really loved this. I've said it til I'm blue in the face over the years that slasher movies can be very hit and miss for me and something like Friday the 13th just bores me to tears. Something like Terrifier that I watched this year, it felt like it was just going for the immediate, visceral reaction but trying to be as gory as possible for cheap pops. But it hadn't earned the real weight behind those deaths because these are just disposable characters. When you have people like Dr. Loomis or Laurie Strode who bring some actual gravitas to proceedings, they can actually make you care, there are actual stakes involved and you're not just cheering for the bad guy and waiting for him to stab Camp Councillor #12.

If you want your bog standard slasher movie, go nuts. I'm sure there's hundreds of them out there. Hell, there's like a dozen other ones in this series alone so I'm all for when one of them wants to try something different. If someone wants to mix their indie, moody, coming of age teen drame in with Halloween then I'm all for it. It certainly has a unique atmosphere to it unlike anything in the series, it put me in mind of something like It Follows in artistic terms, the look and feel to it as well as that general overarching look at these younger characters and their lives being shaped by these traumatic events. Here we have this culmination of movies that has been building up Haddonfield as this deeply toxic place where misery is just a way of like and everyone in it almost seems cursed, with two characters specifically that have every reason in the world to want to get out, with things in their lives ripped away from them in harrowing events but ever after all of that, they feel trapped and bound to this place and unable to break free.

And what does the future hold for Halloween as a franchise when everyone has ridden off into the sunset, quite literally in Laurie's case? Well, everyone seems content for now to let things lay but considering the number of reboot and remakes we've been through, whose to say this will ever truly be over? This is easily one of the biggest franchises in horror, if not the biggest, so it's not going to lay dormant forever. This timeline might be over but I'm sure someone somewhere will start a new one in 5-10 years. Hell, multiverses are all the rage, they'll probably end up drawing in all the different iterations of Michael for some monster mash. And that's just speculation on the future of the silver screen, because we've already had word this month that Miramax has won the TV rights for Halloween so we'll be seeing that before too long.

But, for now, we must retire our Halloween cap as we look forward to the next major event of Christmas and the hopes that I might make the effort to round up the full dozen reviews this year. We live in hope…

#Halloween 2023 #Halloween #Halloween Ends #Michael Myers

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dog-forest-spirit · 1 year

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What are your theory as to why Sunrise keeps clinging to the Inuyasha rights? They have been absorbed by Bandai, and yet they are clinging to them. Cash cow Gintama merch they still had their stickers on until recently, their own huge franchise Gundam given over to Bandai quite a while ago, but the Inuyasha anime? Still copyright 2009 Sunrise. They insisted on giving Sesshoumaru red and white also as a theme color, but now have given him a greyish purple because of the manga. But still they cling to it. Inuyasha is quite big internationally, is that why? But Gintama was the mos exported series for quite a while..! But many fans pretend it doesn't exist anymore after their stupid "what if" story (checked last merch for that, and that was in July 2022 while Inuyasha has long into next year, Moroha unsurprisingly has more of his self-insert than herself in her merch, that stupid tanuki thing). And I got to admit that I still feel a little queasy when I rewatch the first anime, especially later episodes with Rin after knowing what fantasies some of the people involved had 🤢.

When they finally lose the rights, will they be brought up quickly? As many fans want a more faithful adaptation, or will Bandai snatch them up again to take them and give to another company within them to animate? Do you think Takahashi will try getting involved with who they go to when that time comes? I really hope they'll tone down Miroku. The "eew, grooming" scene is really important so I wish it could be part somehow without one of the heroes being a creep, (it was before sumisawa got involved)

Imagine the cool transformation scenes where Inuyasha's ears and colors change during sunrise properly animated! I want to see it!

A new anime that will set it free from the grossness of the past..! Maybe even have Sesshoumaru's mother calling Sesshoumaru a hogosha and ask him why he chose a human rather than a yōkai or at the very least finding a wife first before adopting so he doesn't have to take care of her alone..! Or her in-character calling Rin another pet along with Jaken, which Jaken corrects with Sesshoumaru being Rin's hogosha but not correcting himself being called a pet because that seems in-character for him somehow. And hopefully a new translation of the manga as viz's Americanization where they'd rather introduce Hawaiian words rather than treating a Japanese series as Japanese..!

Sorry for babbling...

They are probably holding on to them because it’s more profitable to keep them than to sell them to someone else and I have zero idea tbh :( sunrise is so ass backwards they handled the yashahime controversy in the WORST possible way they consistently picked the worst option every single time and I hope we can get a new adaption but I don’t know if it’ll happen any time soon :( I’m sure inuyasha was more popular internationally and that’s a big ^^ but ranma 1/2 was huge too and it hasn’t gotten a new adaption urusei yatsura JUST got one I feel if we get one it won’t be for another 10/15 years but if we get one I hope it gets the fruit basket treatment inuyasha has its faults but it’s a really good series and introduced anime to an entire generation of adults but I feel inuyasha is left out of the “iconic 00s” anime conversation which is also :/ I’m going to be optimistic but I don’t know how realistic it’ll be but we didn’t think we’ll get a sequel (pedobait family show spin off spoof) so 👀

I would LOVE a prequel and would have preferred that over whatever yashahime was but only if sunrise does NOT touch it I want a studio who really cares about the source material and doesn’t treat these adaptions like fanfic and throws cheap plots in with even worse characterization for money most anime doesn’t run nonstop anymore so if we get one hopefully it gets the love it deserves

#I feel sunrise ruined the inuyasha brand :/#and what little inuyasha had left was destroyed with yashahime #tragic :((((#long post #and you’re good anon ❤️#you can argue that hunter x hunter got a reboot #like 10 years later but they had a lot more source material #and it made sense to just redo it #the OG and the final act had like? 6 years difference? (2004-2009/2010)#but if we get a reboot PLEASE ADAPT THE MATERIAL PROPERLY #it took 167 episodes for 350 chapters but 26 episodes for 200 chapters????#and the plot order is FUCKED #why did they do that #like everything is out of order #EVERYTHING

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staringdownabarrel · 7 months

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Alright, so I just saw Ahsoka. Like, all of it; I've seen the entire season in more or less one sitting. (Yes, I'm aware this means I desperately need to get a life. No, I'm not going to.) Here's my impression of it.

I don't think the fight scenes were quite as good as the ones in Obi-Wan Kenobi. I think Obi-Wan did a better job at integrating the use of the force as part of a lightsaber martial arts style. I think it also did a better job at tying the fight scenes into the character development. Like, early on, Obi-Wan got worn out easily because he'd largely turned his back on his Jedi ways for so long, but as the series progressed, he did better as his muscle memory increasingly kicked in.

This is unfortunate because Ahsoka had a really good opportunity to go further with this. They had a few different Jedi at a few different levels of experience and training, and they also had a couple of other factions that hadn't been introduced in a live action Star War before. (I haven't seen Andor so don't @ me if I'm wrong on this point. Or do, I guess.) This would have allowed them to not only integrate the force as part of a lightsaber martial arts style in the same way that Obi-Wan Kenobi had, but also show the difference between the approaches between the Jedi, unaffiliated force users who'd still been part of the Jedi at some point, and those with a completely different force tradition had towards integrating the force and their lightsaber martial arts styles.

The other thing I feel like was a missed opportunity in this season was Shin Hati. When she first came on screen in the first episode, my first thought was, "Oh shit, she looks really cool. I hope she has a good character arc." Then she just...didn't. There were definitely hints of one and I think they're trying to set some stuff up for the next season for her to do, but here in this season, she just didn't get as much to do as I was hoping.

This is in direct contrast to Obi-Wan Kenobi, where Reva did get a pretty good character arc over the course of the show. I found her compelling enough that I straight up consider her to be one of the best characters Star Wars has ever had.

This is more of a neutral point, but I've heard a few people say that you need to have seen The Clone Wars to really get this show. That wasn't really my experience. There's enough context clues in the show itself that you get the sense of what the broad strokes of what everyone's relationship to everyone else was like.

I thought it was kinda cool that Shin Hati and Baylan Skoll had reddish orange lightsabers instead of the traditional red that most villains had. I know there's a lot of stuff in the extended canon about different lightsaber colours indicating this or that connection to the Force, but I haven't really interacted with that as much.

The actual cool thing I thought was that they finally left the galaxy for this show. I think this largely makes sense, given the live action sections of the franchise have largely focused on the Jedi and the Sith being in the death throes of their forever war, so they had to bring in some new threats from somewhere at some point. Plus, there's only so many times they can press the "...and now our society is at war with itself again" button before it feels like they have no other ideas.

#star wars #ahsoka #rant

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childotkw · 2 years

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Pointless rambling, but the whole love for Tony and the anti Team Cap thing resonates so deeply with me, you have no idea. Endgame actually pretty much ruined my passion for the MCU, which used to be huge to the point of obsession, now it's just a rather dull memory and I can't really enjoy it anymore, knowing what they made of it. I don't know about you, but aside from Wandavision I found none of the new Marvel shows even remotely enjoyable, the Loki one turned out as especially disappointing, maybe because it was the one I was looking forward to the most. Now I could write entire essays as to why it felt like such a huge letdown and disrespectful towards the character or what he was once meant to be. The movies, in my opinion, have lost most of their heart and soul and most of all sense too and every new piece of media just seems to be a huge, flashy money grab, used to introduce the next big phase. Fics like yours or the writers you recommended still make it worthwhile to stay, though.

Thank you, darling 💕💕

And oh yeah, I don't really engage with the MCU anymore. Endgame pretty effectively killed my interest in the franchise. I think the only things I've seen are No Way Home (and that's only because my sister insisted that I'd like it), and Shang-Chi.

I didn't watch WandaVision (don't like Wanda at all, and I while I love him, I don't love Vision enough to try it), and only got like, two episodes into Loki before stopping because he felt like a caricature.

For the longest time I had entertained the idea of doing a time travel Tony story. One where he was jetted all the way back to when he was seventeen - and he's just so fucking tired. He's an old man trapped in a too-young, unscarred body, and he doesn't want to do it all over again. He'd end up being confronted by everyone who has or will betray him, and would have to play the game of 'do I judge you for what you do in a forgotten future, or hope that this time you'll do something different?'. And then there would be the horrid, horrid ache for his family.

Everyone who met Tony would be expecting the playboy, drug-addict, wasting-his-talent billionaire brat but what they'd get instead was a kid with eyes too old for his face that carried around a bone-deep weariness they couldn't begin to understand. It'd raise questions.

I was still debating, but given it's my OTP, it'd probably end up being WinterIron.

I just have many feelings about Tony.

#anonymous #MCU #tony stark

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undercityrezident · 1 year

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So I got around to watching the Pokeani episode today. I was expecting some sort of segue into the new direction the anime is taking, or at least some sort of preview in the episode. I didn’t get either of those, but I did get a nice warm feeling from the episode. It’s kind of goofy and lighthearted, but that’s what this series has been about, largely. It’s the start of a nice wrap-up that I had a feeling was coming.

I’ll admit, I’m a big sucker for those scenes where they’re just panning across vistas and various habitats and showing off pokemon just living in the world. It really does make me appreciate the world of pokemon itself. It’s been a nice place to fall back into over the years time and time again, even as so much changes in my real life.

But now, according to numerous announcements and trailers, it seems like we’re getting a new pair of protagonists for the anime going forward. Whether they’ll stick around from region to region like Ash did for so many years, or if the show-runners will introduce new ones every series, is completely up in the air at this point as far as I know.

Ash has been with me since I was around 10 years old. He’s was a staple of my childhood, and after a pokemon-related drought in my teenage years, I reconnected with the franchise and his adventures as I forged my own path in the world. It’s definitely been a journey with its ups and downs, but I’ve stuck with it for all the joys and frustrations of it.

I said as much in my review of the maser’s eight tournament finals (and I’m flabbergasted I managed to call it), but this is as good a time as any for Ash to be retired as the protagonist. I don’t see how they could take him any higher (I’m still working through Scarlet, so maybe there’s something there, but I’ve not seen it yet).

In any case, our boy has made it, proven himself, and made waves in his world and ours. After 25 years or so, he’s earned his retirement (even if he’s not aged much in canon). Trying to push Ash further would probably only be detrimental to his character, and I think the introduction of some new protagonists is a great idea.

While I know we have some time left with Ol’ Ash Ketchum, this news is definitely making me reflect on everything he’s been through, and what I’ve been through in watching him. Even if he wasn’t always my favourite, he’s been a constant and great example of steadfast determination and the simplicity of joy.

My hat’s off to you, Ash! Maybe we’ll see you around in some other capacity some day after your proper sendoff. But until then, take a bow Ash Ketchum: Champion of Alola, the Orange League, and the Master’s Eight Tournament. You’ve done us proud!

#Rez Rambles #/#//#///#////#Pokemon #Pokeani #Pokeani Spoilers #Ash Ketchum #Truly the end of an era #The new girl looks cute #I guess we'll see how the new series plays out in April #I wonder if this might end up being a new direction for the anime in tone too or if it'll be the same happy go lucky stuff we've seen #I guess only time will tell...

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