#and that it's not even bad in the way that inspires its audience to create something better

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The (open) web is good, actually

I'll be at the Studio City branch of the LA Public Library tonight (Monday, November 13) at 1830hPT to launch my new novel, The Lost Cause. There'll be a reading, a talk, a surprise guest (!!) and a signing, with books on sale. Tell your friends! Come on down!

The great irony of the platformization of the internet is that platforms are intermediaries, and the original promise of the internet that got so many of us excited about it was disintermediation – getting rid of the middlemen that act as gatekeepers between community members, creators and audiences, buyers and sellers, etc.

The platformized internet is ripe for rent seeking: where the platform captures an ever-larger share of the value generated by its users, making the service worst for both, while lock-in stops people from looking elsewhere. Every sector of the modern economy is less competitive, thanks to monopolistic tactics like mergers and acquisitions and predatory pricing. But with tech, the options for making things worse are infinitely divisible, thanks to the flexibility of digital systems, which means that product managers can keep subdividing the Jenga blocks they pulling out of the services we rely on. Combine platforms with monopolies with digital flexibility and you get enshittification:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/01/21/potemkin-ai/#hey-guys

An enshittified, platformized internet is bad for lots of reasons – it concentrates decisions about who may speak and what may be said into just a few hands; it creates a rich-get-richer dynamic that creates a new oligarchy, with all the corruption and instability that comes with elite capture; it makes life materially worse for workers, users, and communities.

But there are many other ways in which the enshitternet is worse than the old good internet. Today, I want to talk about how the enshitternet affects openness and all that entails. An open internet is one whose workings are transparent (think of "open source"), but it's also an internet founded on access – the ability to know what has gone before, to recall what has been said, and to revisit the context in which it was said.

At last week's Museum Computer Network conference, Aaron Straup Cope gave a talk on museums and technology called "Wishful Thinking – A critical discussion of 'extended reality' technologies in the cultural heritage sector" that beautifully addressed these questions of recall and revisiting:

https://www.aaronland.info/weblog/2023/11/11/therapy/#wishful

Cope is a museums technologist who's worked on lots of critical digital projects over the years, and in this talk, he addresses himself to the difference between the excitement of the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector over the possibilities of the web, and why he doesn't feel the same excitement over the metaverse, and its various guises – XR, VR, MR and AR.

The biggest reason to be excited about the web was – and is – the openness of disintermediation. The internet was inspired by the end-to-end principle, the idea that the network's first duty was to transmit data from willing senders to willing receivers, as efficiently and reliably as possible. That principle made it possible for whole swathes of people to connect with one another. As Cope writes, openness "was not, and has never been, a guarantee of a receptive audience or even any audience at all." But because it was "easy and cheap enough to put something on the web," you could "leave it there long enough for others to find it."

That dynamic nurtured an environment where people could have "time to warm up to ideas." This is in sharp contrast to the social media world, where "[anything] not immediately successful or viral … was a waste of time and effort… not worth doing." The social media bias towards a river of content that can't be easily reversed is one in which the only ideas that get to spread are those the algorithm boosts.

This is an important way to understand the role of algorithms in the context of the spread of ideas – that without recall or revisiting, we just don't see stuff, including stuff that might challenge our thinking and change our minds. This is a much more materialistic and grounded way to talk about algorithms and ideas than the idea that Big Data and AI make algorithms so persuasive that they can control our minds:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/06/attention-rents/#consumer-welfare-queens

As bad as this is in the social media context, it's even worse in the context of apps, which can't be linked into, bookmarked, or archived. All of this made apps an ominous sign right from the beginning:

https://memex.craphound.com/2010/04/01/why-i-wont-buy-an-ipad-and-think-you-shouldnt-either/

Apps interact with law in precisely the way that web-pages don't. "An app is just a web-page wrapped in enough IP to make it a crime to defend yourself against corporate predation":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/27/an-audacious-plan-to-halt-the-internets-enshittification-and-throw-it-into-reverse/

Apps are "closed" in every sense. You can't see what's on an app without installing the app and "agreeing" to its terms of service. You can't reverse-engineer an app (to add a privacy blocker, or to change how it presents information) without risking criminal and civil liability. You can't bookmark anything the app won't let you bookmark, and you can't preserve anything the app won't let you preserve.

Despite being built on the same underlying open frameworks – HTTP, HTML, etc – as the web, apps have the opposite technological viewpoint to the web. Apps' technopolitics are at war with the web's technopolitics. The web is built around recall – the ability to see things, go back to things, save things. The web has the technopolitics of a museum:

https://www.aaronland.info/weblog/2014/09/11/brand/#dconstruct

By comparison, apps have the politics of a product, and most often, that product is a rent-seeking, lock-in-hunting product that wants to take you hostage by holding something you love hostage – your data, perhaps, or your friends:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

When Anil Dash described "The Web We Lost" in 2012, he was describing a web with the technopolitics of a museum:

where tagging was combined with permissive licenses to make it easy for people to find and reuse each others' stuff;

where it was easy to find out who linked to you in realtime even though most of us were posting to our own sites, which they controlled;

where a link from one site to another meant one person found another person's contribution worthy;

where privacy-invasive bids to capture the web were greeted with outright hostility;

where every service that helped you post things that mattered to you was expected to make it easy for you take that data back if you changed services;

where inlining or referencing material from someone else's site meant following a technical standard, not inking a business-development deal;

https://www.anildash.com/2012/12/13/the_web_we_lost/

Ten years later, Dash's "broken tech/content culture cycle" described the web we live on now:

https://www.anildash.com/2022/02/09/the-stupid-tech-content-culture-cycle/

found your platform by promising to facilitate your users' growth;

order your technologists and designers to prioritize growth above all other factors and fire anyone who doesn't deliver;

grow without regard to the norms of your platform's users;

plaster over the growth-driven influx of abusive and vile material by assigning it to your "most marginalized, least resourced team";

deliver a half-assed moderation scheme that drives good users off the service and leaves no one behind but griefers, edgelords and trolls;

steadfastly refuse to contemplate why the marginalized users who made your platform attractive before being chased away have all left;

flail about in a panic over illegal content, do deals with large media brands, seize control over your most popular users' output;

"surface great content" by algorithmically promoting things that look like whatever's successful, guaranteeing that nothing new will take hold;

overpay your top performers for exclusivity deals, utterly neglect any pipeline for nurturing new performers;

abuse your creators the same ways that big media companies have for decades, but insist that it's different because you're a tech company;

ignore workers who warn that your product is a danger to society, dismiss them as "millennials" (defined as "anyone born after 1970 or who has a student loan")

when your platform is (inevitably) implicated in a murder, have a "town hall" overseen by a crisis communications firm;

pay the creator who inspired the murder to go exclusive on your platform;

dismiss the murder and fascist rhetoric as "growing pains";

when truly ghastly stuff happens on your platform, give your Trust and Safety team a 5% budget increase;

chase growth based on "emotionally engaging content" without specifying whether the emotions should be positive;

respond to ex-employees' call-outs with transient feelings of guilt followed by dismissals of "cancel culture":

fund your platforms' most toxic users and call it "free speech";

whenever anyone disagrees with any of your decisions, dismiss them as being "anti-free speech";

start increasing how much your platform takes out of your creators' paychecks;

force out internal dissenters, dismiss external critics as being in conspiracy with your corporate rivals;

once regulation becomes inevitable, form a cartel with the other large firms in your sector and insist that the problem is a "bad algorithm";

"claim full victim status," and quit your job, complaining about the toll that running a big platform took on your mental wellbeing.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/18/broken-records/#dashes

The web wasn't inevitable – indeed, it was wildly improbable. Tim Berners Lee's decision to make a new platform that was patent-free, open and transparent was a complete opposite approach to the strategy of the media companies of the day. They were building walled gardens and silos – the dialup equivalent to apps – organized as "branded communities." The way I experienced it, the web succeeded because it was so antithetical to the dominant vision for the future of the internet that the big companies couldn't even be bothered to try to kill it until it was too late.

Companies have been trying to correct that mistake ever since. After three or four attempts to replace the web with various garbage systems all called "MSN," Microsoft moved on to trying to lock the internet inside a proprietary browser. Years later, Facebook had far more success in an attempt to kill HTML with React. And of course, apps have gobbled up so much of the old, good internet.

Which brings us to Cope's views on museums and the metaverse. There's nothing intrinsically proprietary about virtual worlds and all their permutations. VRML is a quarter of a century old – just five years younger than Snow Crash:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRML

But the current enthusiasm for virtual worlds isn't merely a function of the interesting, cool and fun experiences you can have in them. Rather, it's a bid to kill off whatever is left of the old, good web and put everything inside a walled garden. Facebook's metaverse "is more of the same but with a technical footprint so expensive and so demanding that it all but ensures it will only be within the means of a very few companies to operate."

Facebook's VR headsets have forward-facing cameras, turning every users into a walking surveillance camera. Facebook put those cameras there for "pass through" – so they can paint the screens inside the headset with the scene around you – but "who here believes that Facebook doesn't have other motives for enabling an always-on camera capturing the world around you?"

Apple's VisionPro VR headset is "a near-perfect surveillance device," and "the only thing to save this device is the trust that Apple has marketed its brand on over the last few years." Cope notes that "a brand promise is about as fleeting a guarantee as you can get." I'll go further: Apple is already a surveillance company:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

The technopolitics of the metaverse are the opposite of the technopolitics of the museum – even moreso than apps. Museums that shift their scarce technology budgets to virtual worlds stand a good chance of making something no one wants to use, and that's the best case scenario. The worst case is that museums make a successful project inside a walled garden, one where recall is subject to corporate whim, and help lure their patrons away from the recall-friendly internet to the captured, intermediated metaverse.

It's true that the early web benefited from a lot of hype, just as the metaverse is enjoying today. But the similarity ends there: the metaverse is designed for enclosure, the web for openness. Recall is a historical force for "the right to assembly… access to basic literacy… a public library." The web was "an unexpected gift with the ability to change the order of things; a gift that merits being protected, preserved and promoted both internally and externally." Museums were right to jump on the web bandwagon, because of its technopolitics. The metaverse, with its very different technopolitics, is hostile to the very idea of museums.

In joining forces with metaverse companies, museums strike a Faustian bargain, "because we believe that these places are where our audiences have gone."

The GLAM sector is devoted to access, to recall, and to revisiting. Unlike the self-style free speech warriors whom Dash calls out for self-serving neglect of their communities, the GLAM sector is about preservation and access, the true heart of free expression. When a handful of giant companies organize all our discourse, the ability to be heard is contingent on pleasing the ever-shifting tastes of the algorithm. This is the problem with the idea that "freedom of speech isn't freedom of reach" – if a platform won't let people who want to hear from you see what you have to say, they are indeed compromising freedom of speech:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

Likewise, "censorship" is not limited to "things that governments do." As Ada Palmer so wonderfully describes it in her brilliant "Why We Censor: from the Inquisition to the Internet" speech, censorship is like arsenic, with trace elements of it all around us:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMMJb3AxA0s

A community's decision to ban certain offensive conduct or words on pain of expulsion or sanction is censorship – but not to the same degree that, say, a government ban on expressing certain points of view is. However, there are many kinds of private censorship that rise to the same level as state censorship in their impact on public discourse (think of Moms For Liberty and their book-bannings).

It's not a coincidence that Palmer – a historian – would have views on censorship and free speech that intersect with Cope, a museum worker. One of the most brilliant moments in Palmer's speech is where she describes how censorship under the Inquistion was not state censorship – the Inquisition was a multinational, nongovernmental body that was often in conflict with state power.

Not all intermediaries are bad for speech or access. The "disintermediation" that excited early web boosters was about escaping from otherwise inescapable middlemen – the people who figured out how to control and charge for the things we did with one another.

When I was a kid, I loved the writing of Crad Kilodney, a short story writer who sold his own self-published books on Toronto street-corners while wearing a sign that said "VERY FAMOUS CANADIAN AUTHOR, BUY MY BOOKS" (he also had a sign that read, simply, "MARGARET ATWOOD"). Kilodney was a force of nature, who wrote, edited, typeset, printed, bound, and sold his own books:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-late-street-poet-and-publishing-scourge-crad-kilodney-left-behind-a/

But there are plenty of writers out there that I want to hear from who lack the skill or the will to do all of that. Editors, publishers, distributors, booksellers – all the intermediaries who sit between a writer and their readers – are not bad. They're good, actually. The problem isn't intermediation – it's capture.

For generations, hucksters have conned would-be writers by telling them that publishing won't buy their books because "the gatekeepers" lack the discernment to publish "quality" work. Friends of mine in publishing laughed at the idea that they would deliberately sideline a book they could figure out how to sell – that's just not how it worked.

But today, monopolized film studios are literally annihilating beloved, high-priced, commercially viable works because they are worth slightly more as tax writeoffs than they are as movies:

https://deadline.com/2023/11/coyote-vs-acme-shelved-warner-bros-discovery-writeoff-david-zaslav-1235598676/

There's four giant studios and five giant publishers. Maybe "five" is the magic number and publishing isn't concentrated enough to drop whole novels down the memory hole for a tax deduction, but even so, publishing is trying like hell to shrink to four:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/07/random-penguins/#if-you-wanted-to-get-there-i-wouldnt-start-from-here

Even as the entertainment sector is working to both literally and figuratively destroy our libraries, the cultural heritage sector is grappling with preserving these libraries, with shrinking budgets and increased legal threats:

https://blog.archive.org/2023/03/25/the-fight-continues/

I keep meeting artists of all description who have been conditioned to be suspicious of anything with the word "open" in its name. One colleague has repeatedly told me that fighting for the "open internet" is a self-defeating rhetorical move that will scare off artists who hear "open" and think "Big Tech ripoff."

But "openness" is a necessary precondition for preservation and access, which are the necessary preconditions for recall and revisiting. Here on the last, melting fragment of the open internet, as tech- and entertainment-barons are seizing control over our attention and charging rent on our ability to talk and think together, openness is our best hope of a new, good internet. T

he cultural heritage sector wants to save our creative works. The entertainment and tech industry want to delete them and take a tax writeoff.

As a working artist, I know which side I'm on.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/13/this-is-for-everyone/#revisiting

Image: Diego Delso (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Museo_Mimara,_Zagreb,_Croacia,_2014-04-20,_DD_01.JPG

CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

#pluralistic #ar #xr #vr #augmented reality #extended reality #virtual reality #museums #cultural preservation #aaron cope #Museum Computer Network #cultural heritage #glam #access #open access #revisiting #mr #mixed reality #asynchronous #this is for everyone #freedom of reach #gatekeepers #metaverse #technofeudalism #privacy #brick on the face #rent-seeking

[mattivoda]

This post isn’t targeted towards this person in particular but I see this same sort of tiktok come up on my timeline every couple of months and it feels me with a very specific RAGE because of how wrong it is about the core message of this show.

For those who don’t know, the music from the TikTok comes from the musical The Last Five Years, made by Jason Robert Brown. It originally opened in Chicago in 2001, then making its way to Broadway in 2002 after great reviews from critics and audiences.

the elevator pitch of the show is simple; a writer exploding with success (Jamie) and a struggling actress (Kathy) and the rise and fall of their marriage.

Normally this would be a pretty basic musical, right? However the true genius comes from one key part of its storytelling: the order at which the story is shown to you.

Jamie performs his side of the story in chronological order, from the start of the relationship ending with their divorce. Kathy, however, tells her story flipped; starting with their divorce and ending when Kathy first meets Jamie.

The two actors almost never interact on-stage, singing solo songs for every single song except for the act one ending song The Next Ten Minutes, where Jamie proposes and the two marry.

Now you might be asking: why is this important to the story? and which character was supposed to be the “bad guy” in the marriage?

If you delve into the story and look at the way the story depicts both characters’ perspectives on what happened then an obvious fact becomes clear:

Jamie is an asshole and was the main problem in the marriage. You aren’t, and never were supposed to side with him.

Throughout the show, Jamie is shown to be obsessed with his own fame, gloating about how he seems to only be able to exponentially succeed in his writing. His obsession makes him blind to the struggles of his wife, even going as far as deluding himself into thinking his wife’s struggles is simply her being jealous of his success. By the end of the show, Jamie cheats on Kathy and proceeds to blame her for not allowing him privacy.

THAT’S why the storytelling of The Last Five Years is so compelling. By only showing these characters seperate from each other, it forces us to become familiar with Jamie and Kathy as individuals rather than a couple. It allows us to see Jamie’s douchebaggery up-close and personal, with the entire first act highlighting this glaring detail and allowing us to see the consequences of this as his marriage devolve in the second act. Just the simple fact that Jamie’s story is chronological creates a beautiful dichotomy between Kathy’s frustrations, sadness and abandonment and Jamie’s cocky, happy-go-lucky success story.

Before I finish writing this and go to bed, i’d like to say I don’t blame those who hold this view for thinking this about The Last Five Years for one reason only; the only way they got to see it was the movie version.

the film adaption of The Last Five Years (2014) decided that the reason the musical worked was because “interesting timeline go brrr” and decided to keep the original timeline, but instead had both characters constantly interacting.

Instead of having this abstract deconstruction of these two characters, with both Kathy and Jamie monologuing their personal thoughts and emotions separately, they mash together and create this weird, realistic depiction of a breakup. The performances from Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan were amazing, don’t get me wrong, but these choices in the adaption rip the emotion and soul out of its inspiration and sell the corpse for $20 a viewing.

Jamie and Kathy’s marriage is a cautionary tale about what happens when you don’t listen and understand your partner. It is not a desperate attempt of a composer to appear in the right about his marriage and it shouldn’t be a sloppy retelling of a failed marriage with a quirky form of storytelling. Please please PLEASE if you agree with this original TikTok’s message just know you are so UNBELIEVABLY wrong.

tldr; you are not supposed to side with Jamie!!!! he is in the wrong!!!! that’s the whole point of the musical!!!!! don’t watch the movie it sucks and is innacurate!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHHHHHH

#musicals #broadway #the last five years #anna kendrick #jeremy jordan #jason robert brown #music #theatre #art #essay #relationships #marriage #divorcedlife

[thana-topsy]

Ok I gotta come out and say it. I envy you. Like, to a painful extent. The amount of people you get interested in your characters, how you're incredibly skilled in both visual art AND writing, how readers your fics have. I absolutely adore your work, but seeing it fills me with so much envy it's honestly ridiculous.

Did you deal with similar feelings towards other creators when you started writing fic by any chance? If so, how did you deal with those feelings? I feel genuinely stuck feeling worthless about my fics. I'm not as verbose with my language despite over 10 years of writing under my belt and it seems as though my plots don't interest people as much either. So I feel like there's just nothing of worth about any of my work.

I know that this is a lot to dump on you, but I felt like I would burst keeping this all in. Much love to you and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Hey there my friend, I've been sitting with this all day trying to decide how I want to answer you. I genuinely appreciate your honesty, because I know this is a familiar feeling for a lot of people, myself included.

I remember when I first rejoined Tumblr in early 2019, desperately trying to find anyone to talk to about TES, I would look at all these blogs gettings asks about their OCs like they were little celebrities and feel envy and longing. Now, when these feelings start to bubble up, I force myself to take a break from sharing my work, be it art or writing, if only to remind myself why I'm creating it and who I'm creating it for: myself. I know it sounds cheesy, and I probably sound like a broken record, but genuinely I just do this because it's bursting out of my skull. But I won't lie and say the engagement and the support doesn't have a big impact on my motivation. I love sharing with people and getting an enthusiastic response.

I think something people might not realize, or maybe they just forget, is that I used to write a lot of smut. Like...a lot of smut. (I still do). Hahaha and it doesn't get a lot of comments or engagement, but it does draw a lot of eyes. Once my smut stories started taking on heavier plotlines, a comment I'd get a lot was "came for the porn, stayed for the plot." And I wasn't writing smut because I thought it would get me an audience, I was just horny LMAO. But it encouraged me to branch out and experiment with the types of stories I was telling.

Anyways, art is another big part of it, yes. But that also didn't get a lot of engagement in the beginning, and my skills were rusty as hell. I was getting maybe 15 notes on here, 30 likes on instagram. But that didn't really matter to me, I was just insane with inspiration. I'd reach out to people and ask to do art trades, got ghosted a lot, made some good friends, (some people who are still my good friends to this day!). But it took a lot of risks, and I made a lot of accidental enemies and learned a lot of hard lessons. But having visuals to go with the stories I'm writing is like advertisement in its own way. I'm just lucky enough to hyperfixate on this shit like it's my lifeblood. I've always obsessively drawn my favorite characters, ever since I was a wee bab. Long before social media was a factor or the words "content creator" even existed.

And I think that's what it all comes back to. Above all else, do what you do with unbridled joy. If someone else finds joy alongside you, all the better! Even if it's just one person. Take risks, make friends, make enemies, draw that blorbo unapologetically and with wild abandon. Love what you create, even when it's bad. Even when it makes you cringe years later, don't delete it. Even when people try to find every reason to hate what you do and who you are. Don't stop.

Every act of creation is bringing something into the world that didn't exist before you made it. And that alone gives it worth.

Happy New Year!

#topsy's asks #long post

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

You know before the reveal of Feast, I actually had a fanfic-ish theory on what destroyed the order, the peacock and what had Fu so Scared

I initially had this theory of the guardians not only protecting the miraculous from the world but the world from the Kwamis, since there’s so many concepts (propulsion,destruction,action,etc) I thought that some concepts would be too dangerous with the Kwamis acting according their Concept (Plagg is a trouble maker, the tiger is loud, the bee is loyal, etc) so I thought of kwamis which acted on their concept way too much (regeneration regenerating too much which caused things like painful deformations, infection basically creating monster zombies, fortification being walking fortress of destruction, manipulation causing wars out of pure pleasure, etc) and I thought the thing that destroyed the order would be like the opposite of Plagg and Tikki, the two are a eternal loop of balance, of entropy and birth, of light and darkness, creation and destruction. So the bad guy would be the End of said valance

Like a villain similar to the Lich of adventure time which wanted nothing but the destruction of everything, the end of the cycle, the end of everything that is, was and will be. A villain that would mark himself has evil and would keep doing it because that’s he’s nature and doesn’t think he should go against it

I think Fu would have accidentally freed this Kwami of the end but the guardians sacrificed themselves and thousands of miraculouses (because we already have enough heroes) to trap it once again and the reason Fu ran away is because some of the leaking power of the End miraculous freed some minions of the kwami which want the miraculous of creation and Destruction so their master can destroy EVERYTHING

In a show about the miraculous (heck they even come before of ladybug’s and cat noir’s name) I think the most fitting villain would be a miraculous

That would explain why Fu was so scared of losing the Miraculous without pulling up the stupidity of the wish in default ending the world, since losing the miraculous could mean Literally the end of everything

Heck I even made a OC (the minion of the kwami chasing down Fu) which was just “hey what if I make a villain rival for ladybug that doesn’t have disgusting implications of being a minor (a rival that is a adult) so when she’s defeated the audience will cheer instead of being disgusted or sad for seeing a (technical) child being dragged into the depths of HELL” also to explain why the peacock was broken since the miraculous of the end (which rivals the power of creation and destruction together) could 100 break the miraculous, it would make the audience know how dangerous this powers are and would make it look important since the damage he caused started the whole show

Also it would rise the stakes better than Gabriel’s personality making a 180 and the wish having the most bullshit consequences, since the wish would be used to end the world

I even wrote a fanfic of the escaped minion being the reason the Timeline changes in cat blanc to make the world end, so the audience knows how corruptive, destructive, unnatural, evil this kwami is with its first plan including manipulating the minds of kids (Rossi slightly and heavily Lila) to start all the events, manipulate Gabriel to hurt he’s son, make cat Blanc fight ladybug and destroy the world. Lila and chloe are just kids, Gabriel is a broken man, but this thing? This thing and he’s minions are what people B.C. saw that inspired the Devil, Hell and demons

Seriously when I discovered a sentimonster (one the order had designed on their book) was the one who destroyed ALL of the guardians, I felt nothing but disappointment, specially when they don’t explain how the peacock was broken by a mere sentimonster

I expected something grand, something that would make Gabriel see the error of he’s ways with how insignificant he is compared to the forces he was trying to control, but instead I just got a sentimonster…

Am I the one in the wrong? Was I expecting too much? Because even till this day I still feel disappointed, specially by how pathetic and uninteresting Feast was. seriously if you changed Feast and that dragon giant from the Shanghai special, I would be pleased since at least I can see a threatening, smart and powerful monster which scales above Hawkmoth in every way (power, evilness, design, lore) being the one at fault of the destruction of this mighty guardians, but instead they died to a frog!

That was a pretty interesting and detailed backstory, anon. Do you have a link to the fanfic you wrote involving the minion?

You're not wrong to expect more from the backstory of one of this show's characters. I don't think anyone really expected the backstory that kicked off the plot to amount to "The monks who trained me were dicks, I got hungry, so I played God and accidentally wiped out the aforementioned monks with a blue frog."

#immaturity of thomas astruc #iota #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug salt #master fu #wang fu #jade turtle

[smilingangel582]

Yooo I'm still at a loss for the links and I'm sorry guys...I'm such a clutz, hehe~

☆anyway never mind that let's go down a other roller coaster of tickles with genshin impact. I wanted to right for Kaveh but loss inspiration at the moment... so guys pls bear with me I'll be writing for sweet kaveh soon!

Warning spoilers for fontaine version 4.0!

Ps. Are my fics so bad that Lyney still refuses to come to me!!! I want him, so I'll keep on writing till he comes to me! Heck, his C3 sister is waiting too nyaaaahaaa~

Magic is a performance of art with picturesque illusions. Lyney often became overwhelmed by Caeser's joy in magic as he taught him several aspects of it. Indeed, he began to love it as well... especially playing tricks on others' minds as he played on.

It'd often the smaller ones thst excited kids more. Picking mora from their ears, picking flowers out from under his cloak, he could fo ample things just to get the audience happy.

It's usually days when the big magic tricks would begin, most unexpectedly he feels nervous though he had a knack for avoiding troublesome thoughts. Only Lynette read him like a book...

"Lyney!"

The sharp tone made him look up instantly, startled by his loss of awareness as he was sipping tea at his place with the traveller. Freminet was missing as always, being engrossed in diving - perhaps he ought to learn how to relax from him as well.

Ever since the trial, he became anxious about doing grand performances. He did perfect it at practice, but...he was worried if someone would sabotage his show again and create another victim...

Seeing Aether tilt his head in question to ask how he's feeling, Lyney chuckled sheepishly. "Oh dear, sorry to zone out like this... I may have been preoccupied by the fact that Paimon's not tired of floating around"

"Hey, Paimon's floating his similar to you guys walking, you know!"

Seeing her indignant reaction, he thought he had drawn their attention away from him. Still, Lynette didn't even make an attempt to sound accusing as she calmly said, "You're rigid, brother... perhaps you're nervous after all"

"W-what..? Surely you jest... I'm just more concerned about Paimon's logic to floating, " his face darkened as he lowered his head to the side to avoid any misgivings though the opposite just convoluted.

"Hey, you better not mess with Paimon!" Paimon, being Paimon, ignorantly grumbled in her chirpy voice, sounding offended presumably. Still, Aether could sense his offensive tactic being seen through. He might find it more intriguing to see past the crumbling defence he built desperately...

He shook his head now. "Lyney, we're close enough to see through your act..."

"Ah, drats..." he smiled weakly, seeing how his sister and the traveller were onto him. Keeping his tea cup to its original place on the table, he began to reason.

Now his solid defence has a crack...

"Alright, alright, guys... I am human, so I'll admit I am nervous after the water tank incident, " he offered. Now Lynette stated slight concern in her cool tone,"It's not the same trick... so why are you that worried?"

Sighing, he bit his lip, as if he got scolded by a teacher, "Making mistakes, I guess?"

Aether noticed his stiffness. He could tell the young magician must have been traumatised by the death of Cowell. Either way, they came here to cheer him on. He wondered if he could do anything for him... something to perk him up.

"Lyney" Aether began now gesturing to Paimon. "Allow Paimon to massage your shoulders... to make you relax... she's good at that"

Paimon gasped at Aether audacity to make a request unbeknowst to her, "You little! Of course, you put this on Paimon...!"

Regardless, her starry gaze genuinely desired to help, so she began "Alright Lyney let Paimon loosen you up"

Lyney anxiously waved a hand. "Oh n-no need... It's not really necessary... I really don't have stiff shoulders..."

(Cute...)

Aether rolling his eyes said, "Come on Lyney, no more secrets its obvious they are stiff..."

Before Lyney could evade the offer, Paimon was already behind him. "Relaaax, Paimon is an expert masseur. She can make you lose your fears in a snap!" She removed the pegged Cape so easily, and began to descend.

Until he staggered away, immediately stiffened by her gentle fingers reaching for his shoulders.

"D-dont Paimon... its not necessary"

She couldn't even touch him when he slid off from the couch only to stand and face her, Paimon pouted "Awww but can't you trust Paimon?"

"I...uh... It's not t-trust..."

Lynette, seeing the obvious issue and she finally pointed out, "It's not you, Paimon. He's got ticklish shoulders..."

"Lynette!!"

The casual reply made him blush but only to let Paimon's curious eyes widen in wonder. She waves her arms in frantic excitement "Nooo way Lyney! You didn't tell us your ticklish!"

Extremely nervous, he lowered his hat to hide the blush "A-Arent we all Paimon...?"

Most of Paimon's giggled converted to menacing titters as she wiggled her fingers. "So come here and let Paimon make you relax in a better way"

He had not expected this situation to collapse on him like this. He backed a little too far to bump into a seated Aether's knees and fell, half on his lap.

"Oh dear my apologihihihiies -Wahahait!" He struggled to sit up and grab Aether's sneaking fingers prodding his sides.

His squeaks contagiously threatened to leave his lips as Aether was mischievous as well.

"Are the fatuus this weak to tickling? I must say that's a bit disadvantageous"

Paimon, floating towards Lyney's upper body, began to perform her special tickly massage on his shoulders "Waiit for Paimon Aether, she wants to tickle him too!"

"Ahahha guys plehehehease" he curled now bur Aether grabbed his hips and snickered at the stream of loud and sweet giggles, "as I was saying... we could make you spill any little secret from the house of the hearth right?"

"Ihihihin your dreheheeheams I'm nohohot thahahahat weheheheheak"

"Ahhh, tsk, tsk it's not about being weak... It's about how ticklish you are, " he taunted by kneading his ribs with pure intent to torture information out of him.

Poor Lyney, on the other hand, tried to roll to the ground, but Aether got up and pinned him further to the couch, now both of the ganging on him where he's cornered.

"Lynehehehehtte!" The twin sister peacefully finishes her tea before saying,"It's ironic how his worst spots are the most exposed areas. His armpits and thighs are pretty bad, you know"

Hearing this intel Paimon snickered "ehehehehe let Paimon excell her Paimonial wrath! Your armpits are Paimons now!!!" She charged in yo perfectly fit her small hands into his delicate armpits, she even blowed at his neck to make him squeal and hiccup into louder giggles and laughs.

"This was just to make you relax, so..." Aether teasingly swiped a finger over his thighs suddenly, making him shrill in shock and squeak, "Pleheheheease!"

"So no... at least not today, " he said this, and Paimon reluctantly backed off."That was for making fun of Paimon!"

Chuckling at her ridiculous high pitched complain Aether now cupped his cheeks to get a better look at his adorably blushing red face. "Teyvat to Lyney... you there~"

He still giggled as he said "Aaha yes, I must thank you, but... that was a bit much, wasn't it"

Meanwhile, Lynette coolly expressed, "Ignore him. He loves being tickled so you guys can knock yourselves out"

Lyney flustered now "Y-You can't just...!"

"Oh really?" Aether grabbed his shoulders now making him stiffen again "I thought I found a knot right here? Guess Paimon's masseur skills are still lacking"

"Hey!" One from Paimon.

"HEHehehey!" Another from a bewildered Lyney who giggled at the light touch now trying to move away.

"Ahahaha nohohot again! Nohohot thehehhe shoulders ahahahaha aehehehehther!"

"Let the magic begin!" Lynette smirked, joining the finale of wrecking her brother. None of them have the intention of letting Lyney go until he's cheered and satisfied.

Well... not that Lyney wanted it to stop... he liked this feeling...

#tickle fic #genshin impact #cute #lee!lyney #ler!lynette #ler!aether #ler!paimon

[radioluminescentoblivion]

Hazbin Hotel: The Corruption of Creativity. Part 1

1. Introduction

Hello everyone, I normally don’t make huge posts like these, but I thought it would be important to make this review and discussion about the latest animated show on Amazon Prime, Hazbin Hotel, and the people behind the scenes who worked on the show, mostly the show creator Vivziepop. Back in 2019 when I first watched the animated pilot of Hazbin Hotel, I was interested to see how this show, if picked up, would go about with its story. Like many people who were still fans of Vivziepop’s work, I wanted to see this show become a good adult animated series. In fact, as the production was going on behind closed doors, I supported viv and her work via Patreon for a time and bought some merch from Sharkrobot.com to help fund her endeavors—I even still have my Angel Dust t-shirt and Hazbin Hotel poster in a black picture frame. 

2. Personal Fan Origins

Though I wasn’t an og follower of viv back in her older days on DeviantArt, I was introduced to her work around 2014-2015, that’s when I originally saw her fan-animated Kesha Die Young music video and since then I became a fan of her work and was obsessed with her means of creating very expressive and stylistic characters. Vivziepop was the artist who not only introduced me to the furry community, she was also a big inspiration for my artwork and still is to some extent now, had it not been for her, I don’t think I would’ve been in the position I’m in now to make art or it would’ve taken me much longer than where I started. 

But as much as I was a casual fan of her work, I was also a skeptic of her as a person over time. Primarily due to how she would be overly defensive towards criticism, radiate a toxic personality on others and friends of hers, and how she would intentionally and unintentionally weaponize her audience against those that landed on her blacklist. These traits would only become more apparent over time, but I like many others had the mindset of “separating the art from the artist” And while there is some validity to be made on that notion, it makes it all the harder when the person intentionally makes the art inseparable from who they are or they’re still active or alive and will constantly change their position or view on things. I know there’s a much deeper discussion to be had about this notion and how relevant it actually is, but for the sake of this post, I won’t dive into it that much. 

Watching Helluva Boss in 2019 onward would prove to be a conflicting experience since the first time watching the first season wasn’t as bad, some episodes had some strong character development, decent action scenes, and enjoyable songs. 2, 5, and 6 were some of my favorites in the series, but around season 2 episode 4, I was losing interest and I began to see the cracks in the show and noticed that the charm had dwindled going into the second season. Episode 6 was where I stopped which is funny because the last episode (at least currently) was episode 7 which I didn’t even bother to give any attention to because I didn’t like the show much anymore: The characters were losing whatever charm they had originally, making the characters I did like lose that vibe I enjoyed and those I didn’t like before I just didn’t care or it made it all the worse, the pacing didn’t get any better as the show was always going so quickly but rarely having time to sit down and digest even when there were scenes that had those moments, and for a show that would have differing times from 10-30 minutes, it made it all the more rushed, the stories were all over the place in a way I had no fun engaging with or could get behind, sometimes plot points like D.H.O.R.K.S’s evidence of demons would be revealed but never brought up again or have the same impact on the show, and some of the songs were forgettable (though I did enjoy Cotton Candy).

After I stopped giving HB a watch I decided to be patient and wait for when Hazbin Hotel would drop, and on January 18th, 2024, the first episode would drop to present the new show to the world.

3. Hazbin Hotel Review (Spoilers, Obviously)

Summary - 

Hazbin Hotel is an adult animated series about the daughter of Lucifer named Charlie Morning Star, a demon princess seeking to rehabilitate sinners in a less violent way to combat overpopulation in hell. Along the way, she manages to get support from the enigmatic radio demon named Alastor who helps Charlie and Vaggie bring in sinners in an attempt to redeem their souls for a price while trying to be as cooperative as she can with the odds stacked against her. 

When I first watched the premiere of the show, I wasn’t really blown away or impressed by it, which isn’t a bad thing since not a lot of shows have a strong start with their early episodes in the season. Where it did get interesting however was around 4-6 when it started to focus more on character development and give some time for the main cast to shine and maintain some consistency with the story, though this has its limits. There were also some decent songs, some funny dialogue, and even some sprinkling of action around the end. Unfortunately, in the later episodes, it started to fall back to where the show lost its touch. So let me get around to the pros and cons of Hazbin Hotel:

The Good -

As someone who felt burnt out from Helluva Boss, this is an improvement as far as comparing viv’s older work goes, which is a slight benefit. 

Performances are great as far as voices go, especially when you have people like Keith Davids in your line up, though I would be a little more positive on the casting choices if it didn’t also come at the cost of the old cast, I genuinely believe they should’ve been given additional voice roles if not main ones for the show, so that sucks. 

Songs can be hit or miss in this show, with More Than Anything (both the first and reprise) and Loser Baby being the better examples and the rest not sticking out to me as much, either because I don’t think they had as much impact or they felt out of left field. I think it would’ve been better to not have every episode with a song number unless it was a grand introduction to something (i.e. Poison, Loser Baby, More Than Anything). Though I don’t expect this to be a popular opinion so whatever

The visuals are fairly competent with few to no issues that caught my eye, my only critique would be that due to how fast everything feels it can be hard to follow what's all happening, not to mention having the background and background characters look as eye-catching as the main cast can throw people off of where they should put their focus on. It's not as terrible enough where I loathe it, but it could make some contrast of who/what you should pay more attention to. 

The Bad -

The story loses track of the main premise of Charlie trying to redeem sinners and her relationship with Vaggie. The side plots don’t interest me as much aside from Angel Dust and Husk having some empathy for each other slowly through the series, and the other main cast aren’t nearly explored as much. Idk the best way to describe it, but it seems that most of the focus of the side characters isn’t where it should be (the hotel’s residents) and more so on those outside the hotel, which I think would’ve worked better in the second season rather than just the first. If season one was just focusing on the residents, Charlie and Vaggie more than the other characters, I wouldn’t mind that. I think the only exceptions to this would be the hell overlords discovery of how to fight back and Lucifer helping Charlie with the hotel. But back to the main cast, Charlie and Vaggie’s moments of romance and bonding seem few and far between, which sucks since this is supposed to be about them right? RIGHT?! The potential is just wasted.

Not every song is needed or has a place in every episode, though that could be because I wasn’t feeling them as strongly compared to the ones mentioned. Not much else to say there that hasn’t already been said.

Characters don’t appeal to me as much aside from Niffty and Sir Pentious (they’re the best) and unfortunately, the characters I should care about don’t get enough time to shine due to how this show is hastily paced—which leads me to my next negative.

Pacing is absolutely atrocious, for episodes that last 30 minutes, it feels like everything has happened yet also little has happened in such a short period of time (which is insane to me) Viv has had pacing issues in the past with her work which is concerning to me, mostly because she wasn’t always this speedy with her series, there were times she had more breathing room for her older works for instances like the Son of 666 and Timber, even the short Bad Luck Jack (which I liked) suffered from this in ways. Idk what exactly happened, but it seems like viv’s workflow has just gotten worse over time, and her artistic magic, patience, etc has just vanished.

Jokes? For what attempt of humor was there, it was very little. Once in a while, there was a joke that stuck the landing or made me chuckle, such as Charlie and Alastor swearing unexpectedly, only because it’s so out of left-field you wouldn’t expect it, so the joke works. Or when Niffty and Sir Pentious act their usual awkward selves in front of others. But everything else is just not funny to me because the majority of the humor is either sex or profanity jokes that don’t have that great of build-up or go for something more than just “haha adult words” which ironically makes it more juvenile than adult. I don’t mind stupid humor, but make it funny and not because you want to say “fuck” for the sake of it. Even if it’s just for casual talk, it's overly excessive. It doesn’t hurt to find humor in other ways even if those don’t land either, it's better than just resorting to profanity and sex.

Additional Comments -

When it comes to Vivziepop’s older works, it’s better than Helluva Boss but weaker than her shorts or animated music videos (fan-made or original), the strongest elements within the series lie within the hump of the season and fall short from the beginning and end. Though as annoying as that is, it pales in comparison to the other elements in the show. 

Heaven’s methods of carrying out exterminations every year to dissuade the populace of hell from rebelling is just a very dumb thing to do when there are so many other ways to shatter the morale of a persecuted people or nation without lifting a single sword that would’ve been better implemented and create a larger divide between heaven and hell and less costly as well. Perhaps this is just to further showcase how arrogant and incompetent Heaven is, but I have my doubts on that. 

Alastor as a manipulative radio host works well between Charlie and Vaggie, though I wish they wouldn’t have explained his ties to the disappearances of hell’s overlords so soon, it just takes away from his mysterious nature as this eldritch being. That part to me would’ve worked later on. (Yeah, I’m also aware they did something similar in the pilot too, which brings up another issue I have) 

Continuity between the pilot and the first episode is pretty murky, it doesn’t help matters when the plot of the pilot and the series episodes get collaged in so haphazardly. If I never heard of Hazbin Hotel or Vivziepop’s work before, I’d kinda be thrown off a bit and try my best to catch up on what’s going on. I don’t expect an expose of how everything works, but an organic flow of how things come together would’ve been nice. For instance: the pilot itself feels more like an episode one than the actual episode 1 of the first season. I know the point of the pilot isn’t as strict in its rules, since it's supposed to sell an idea to a network or distributor. Hell, The Amazing Digital Circus does something similar to how Hazbin Hotel does with presenting a first-episode introduction into the world and characters, only it does it far better and it hasn’t even gotten its first episode out yet, but I don’t want to compare apples to oranges on two different shows. The point is, the first episode should’ve had a better flow to it or at least maintained something more consistent like the pilot did. 

But by far the most glaring problem in the show isn’t part of the show itself believe it or not. But to keep this short, I’ll leave that for part 2. 

4. End of Part 1 

Originally when I watched the series I gave this a 7/10 on IMDB because I came at this from a perspective of how I would judge the work based on viv’s prior craft, this gave it a point above Helluva Boss, primarily with pacing, and direction of what it should be about and where to focus the story and characters. That being said, I was being very generous and didn’t also factor in on how it stood on its own two feet, and to be honest? It's not that good. For the first season of a new adult animated show, it’s too rushed, and not fleshed out enough in areas where it needs to be, The majority of the characters I have little interest or investment in, and despite having its moments, it's not enough to keep me hooked to know what happens within the next season. 

This would bring it down to 1 point for that to a 6/10, I know some fans would put the blame on Amazon, A24, or Bento, but here’s the thing, other shows have had episodes with similar limited space and time to tell their stories yet do a far more superior job in doing so than this, from what I understand, Amazon seems pretty open for a studio big or small to do as they please with what resources they have to get out what they can regardless of the restraint of episodes to be made, thereby making studios try their best to work harder on making a show work with such little episodes, so I see this mostly as a personal thing with viv and her team than just amazon. 

Now I would just leave it at that and move on, but I’m afraid this is where things get more muddy and grim.

#longahpost #review #critique #vivziepop #hazbin hotel #helluva boss #vivziepop criticism #vivziepop critical #vivziepop critique #hazbin hotel critique #hazbin spoilers

[sneezemonster15]

https://www.tumblr.com/sunshinecherryblossom/732710854315933696/wtf-it-is-true-oh-my-god-when-is-this

This seems false, what do you think about it?

I find it highly unlikely. Unless someone gives me a legit link to it, I wouldn't consider it. Lots of fake interviews of Kishi are doing rounds in this fandom. And Kishi would never say something like this given how he has treated Sakura's character for 700 chapters and beyond. This part is from his 2010 interview (at Jump Fiesta Tokyo-Japan) :

When the interviewer asked Kishi about Sakura, and called her a detestable girl (most people can see how Sakura's character is written as a detestable character, can't speak for delusional people), Kishi replied in a very convenient manner - "Realistic girls are like that..."

Lol. Once he calls his character realistic, what can one say? Realistic characters are never black and white, they stand in the grey area. So you can get away by saying - "Oh, she is realistic", without expanding on it.

Shounen characters are generally larger than life type characters to create a large impact since they serve a pedagogic purpose for its target group. People who are from the good guys camp, are generally taken as good, people who are from the bad guys camp are generally perceived as bad. So of course it would confuse people when Sakura is from the good guys camp but acts like a total douchebag. And naturally they would ask questions about it. But Kishi totally avoided to take the more controversial position by saying - she is realistic.

We know Sakura's character can be realistic, many women are the way she is. But is she a good role model for women of any place at any time? No. She doesn't really serve the pedagogic purpose other characters do. She is a negative person, selfish and immature. We know that. But Kishi cannot say it explicitly in his interviews because it would lead to all the other kinds of controversial questions, and would potentially open a can of worms for him. First question would be - If she is from the good guys camp and remains till the end, why did you write her as negative, even after she got so popular? You could have used her character's popularity with the girls to say something inspiring, something kind. So why didn't you? Any other writer would have jumped at the chance. Writers are supposed to work off the popularity of characters in a medium such as commercial serialilized manga.

Kishi kept writing her as detestable. If he could, he would have told them - I wrote her that way because I needed plot device for Naruto and Sasuke's romance which I was writing in the disguise of ninja manga. Team seven is about S and N. It's a love story about them and Sakura doesn't figure anywhere in their relationship and I want to make it clear by showing why.

And I have a feeling quite a lot of Sakura's characterisation comes from his personal experience of women. Of course he couldn't say all that. But he can be indirect about it. Although when you are indirect about something so many times, with context it becomes quite direct. Hehehe

Just look how Gege responded when he was asked a difficult question from Kubo. Female characters are not given much weight in shounen given its target audience. Most female characters in shounen aren't even given half the character development male characters get. And look at Japanese society, it's so patriarchal, who's surprised their representation of female characters is so backward? I doubt most of these mangakas get out very much, to actually put some effort in knowing how women act and why.

Look at Kubo's interview with Gege. Gege's female characters are kickass, as strong as men, as smart and well developed. They have agency, self worth and esteem. Their characters don't revolve around male characters. But female characters like these are beyond Kubo's imagination lol. Look at the female characters in Bleach hahaha. So this is what he asked Gege.

Kubo finds Jjk women formidable because he cannot even fathom independent women, women who don't depend on men for everything. Lol. They can walk shoulder to shoulder with men, they aren't less than men, like they are in most shounen. But of course, Gege cannot tell Kubo these things. Hehe. Kubo is his senior, and the Japanese have a whole set of etiquette on how to behave with one's senpai. Gege won't say anything even remotely offensive to Kubo, so the best way to deal with such things is to be vague and use self deprecating humor, so as to not appear confrontational, it's a communication tactic. I also use these kinds of tactics when talking to difficult people or people in high positions I don't agree with. I have interviewed hundreds of people in my work. So I understand that one needs to be subtle even in their disagreements.

In Shippuden, later on, Sakura was written with heroine like qualities. So what this means is that Kishi doesn't have a very good opinion on either women or women in shounen. She does get some footage in the manga, where other characters praise her skills, like one would expect a heroine to get. She confesses to Sasuke and Naruto both. Never mind the rejection from both. But it's clear that Kishi would never have made Naruto end up with Sakura who treated Naruto this badly. Kishi is not a fool. He plainly says that she comes off as detestable because that's how she was written. Lol.

Lots of rumours have been doing rounds about Naruto's remake or live action film etc. but as far as I know, nothing such has actually materialised. So I wouldn't worry about it either.

I think it's high time that SS, NH and NrSk accept the reality and move on. It's been years. Sasuke is gay. Naruto is gay. Was established as closeted gay in both parts one and two. He would not suddenly defy his character traits and become straight just because NrSk can't keep it in their pants. So pathetic tch. Guys, there is nothing for you in Naruto except heartbreak. Grow up and move on.

SNS at least have legit reason to still be hopeful. The het shippers have nada. Zilch. Zero. Hehe. But well, who can fight desperation? Not these peeps.

#ask #sakura #naruto #gege #kishimoto #kubo #haruno sakura

[divorcedwife]

hi! i love your art SO MUCH and i check your blog like the morning newspaper to see if you’ve uploaded anything new (you always have and I LOVE IT!!! thank u for keeping us fed) anyway i was just wondering if you had any advice for actively creating so much? i used to draw all of the time but i find it so hard lately to make even one tiny thing, especially something that i like…..but when i look at your work and how much you create i am always so inspired! i hope this makes sense eeeek anyway have an amazing day and thank you for sharing your incredible work with us!!!!

thank youuuu thank you so much!!! ;___;

i totally get that, and it used to be my number one problem, creating at all. i remember being in art school surrounded by people who were always drawing, and me, i just couldn't, and i couldn't explain what made drawing so difficult for me

and i think what blocked me is that i was paralyzed by indecision - too afraid to waste my time making "bad art" to do anything, or the wrong type of art, art that' won't look good in my portfolio, art that's too silly and specific to me. so in the end i made nothing

what's really been helping me lately is that i have dramatically lowered my standards for myself. i sketch every idea i have, even if it's just putting down three lines, even if it's self-indulgent and silly. anything that excites me and makes me want to draw, i follow that excitement as far as it will take me. maybe that's a fully completely illustration, maybe just a sketch, or maybe somewhere in between

if the goal is to have fun and not making a masterpiece, i feel less pressure and i end up drawing more. and drawing more leads to drawing better! if you make 10 sketches and really pressure yourself to make them great, that's torture. if you draw 1000 sketches, some of them will turn out amazing

when i have ideas i sketch, and when im low on ideas, i have all these already made sketches to revisit, and as i draw i find new ideas! this avoids me having to face a blank canvas and desperately scratch around my brain for ideas. creativity does not like being scrutinized like a bug, it vanishes under pressure in my experience

i find that creativity can be a negative or a virtuous circle. not drawing leads to less ideas and more pressure to deliver something good which will keep someone not drawing. but if you find something that gets you excited enough to draw again and keep going, then you will get more ideas along the way. follow them! draw the same character 1000 times in a row. i tend to focus on mostly one of my characters at a time - i draw her, i think about her, so i want to draw her more, and so on. that's fine

if there's any part of drawing that you like more than others, maybe try leaning on that more, and remember you don't need to do anything you don't want to do. if doing lineart sucks, don't do that. if coloring makes you want to stop drawing, use black and white

but also, where i've also been very lucky is having people like you around! :-) having people respond and connect to my art with such enthusiasm and such kindness, it's incredible

genuinely i owe more to people online who like my art than anyone does to me for making it. i would probably still make art if i had no one to show it too (which is what i did in middle school lol), but it's very lonely. it's harder to create something if it feels like no one will care. and i've been there, i spent years on deviantart having zero followers and attention. so i think every artist needs supportive friends they can show their art to for encouragement

some people feel shame that they don't do art just for its sake, that they want followers and likes and all, so i just want to say it's normal to want that :-) like i do make my art for an audience, if it was just for myself, i'd look at it in my head

i hope any of that helps!! in conclusion, i think any kind of art is worth making. and it should be fun. i also hope this makes any sense - i have to go to work soon but i wanted to reply before that. and thank you again for your kind words!!!!! <33333333

#anon #answered

[helluvabossrewrite45]

Have you ever felt insecure with work (ex. feeling inferior to others and that you and your work aren't good enough for anyone to enjoy, worrying about your stuff being a failure, etc) and if so, how do you deal with them?

I ask since I've been dealing with some insecurities with my art & writing and worrying that the stuff, I have planned to share wouldn't be good enough for anyone to enjoy, especially with this problem of myself comparing my work to others (especially ones I take inspiration from), and I feel these are problems I definitely need to work on if I wish to succeed. So, I thought maybe I'd ask you for some advice on dealing with insecurities about your work. Apologizes if this ask got a little too vent-y and personal.

No, thats okay anon. Tbh, i definitely felt this some or a lot of the time whenever I'm creating a writing piece. Theirs this part of my head where it questions my writing techniques, that it wont be good, that it will come off as pretentious and how people consider my books to be cringe or bad even in an artistic standpoint (the main thing I care for because I know im not the best technical wise) and they dont ever get finished both because of the time and that writers block for that story just kept coming. For the hb series, I'm a bit more confident because its just rewriting a show with flaws that i wanted to fix in some way, though i still feel of some insecurity like if its too chronically online or too childish for my age (almost going to be a senior next year, still in hs) but it does have an audience with people who enjoy them so i keep continuing. I'd say im mostly confident with my revision of books that are gross (e.g, those dark 'romances' of psuedo incest themes) where i remove it and replace it with familial themes instead, books like colleen hoover because her romances and the way she writes about them are just not good and i think you can spin so much of her stuff into decent works without the toxic romance/smut (cuz ngl, it is more like smut than a romance book) or works like velma where its just bottom of the barrel shit that you can easily make it a more enjoyable experience in your reworks. You could compare your books to poorly written ones and that may give you a bit of confidence in your works because well, 'at least its not as bad as _'. Or, something that i'm planning to focus on more, instead of worrying too much of how its written, its to get it done as much as possible. If writers block ever comes in, take a break, look at your work, maybe google how to get out of it or try to see how you can get out of it with an extra sentence. Another thing is to go to the people you can trust with criticism of how to improve your work like friends where they can give you the proper criticism you need for improvement before posting them online or somewhere book related. It's all i have since im still experiencing these things and how im currently busy with school assessments but i hope they at least help in some way.

#helluva boss critical #helluva boss critique #helluva boss criticism #helluva critical #helluva critique #helluva criticism #helluva boss rewrite #anon #ask

[demeterdefence]

Previous anon here:

Hmm agreed, it's not JUST her fault but it sucks that our current cultural landscape keeps falling into the same trap of trying to make something woke, feminist, progressive, what have you but winds up so much worse instead

It's the same issue with the disney remakes, failing so hard to update the story when its original incarnation was more feminist without even trying. For example: I know a lot of people love the 2015 remake of Cinderella, and I've seen people say it's the best live-action adaptation but I will NEVER forget that, while the movie hammers home the lesson "be kind, always" they had the nerve to insert a line that says something like: It's a good thing Cinderella's stepmother was cruel, because otherwise she never would've met the prince and like EXCUSE ME?!

I think MOST people would rather have a safe home-environment where you weren't bullied, demeaned, and forced to work over the vague possibility of a special someone coming to rescue me from this situation...

Anyway this was about lore olympus... XD

i think you have a really valid point! and it circles back to how rachel is just one of many people who insists on a flawed perception of something, thinking it's "better" because it's "modern"

like with rachel's lolita fetish or the gross racism within lore olympus, this really does speak to a wider issue - the fact that webtoons promotes the content and publishes it to such a wide audience, who is so often comprised of younger teens who don't yet realize why this is an issue. i can only imagine ancient greek women who adored the hymn of demeter, finding out that modern times vilifies her and glorifies persephone's kidnapping as some kind of romance. and there are ways to portray things in a modern setting, or to create romance in a story that is more or less devoid of it; the trick is, you need to know the originals to make a retelling. one of my favourite movies is disney's hercules, which is so far from the original lore of heracles it's pretty much an entirely separate story - but it's done with such love and so many nods to the canon myth that you can acknowledge this is an offshoot inspired by the myths.

rachel's comic is just so utterly devoid of any kind of love for the original myths and legends. she uses such surface-level interpretations of the characters that removes any complexity from their motivations, and thus the story as a whole. hades and persephone are given depth, supposedly, but zeus being forced to kill his own father, or why he's a sex addict, gets thrown into the trash for cheap shots. demeter's trauma in being made for war, watching her sister torn apart, watching her mother killed, sexually abused by two of her friends, and abused / vilified by hades for centuries, who then goes on to marry her teenage daughter, is tossed away for demeter to be "overbearing mom eugh."

like, rachel wants all the modern glitz and glam of the modern era, but that's it. she does not want to tell a story - she wants to draw her ocs in hot clothes having bad sex.

#answered #anti lo #anti lore olympus #i am a FIRM believer than myths and legends can be retold in modern context #and i've personally read some absolutely stellar modern retellings! #rachel is not one of them lol

[fangedprinx]

The more I think about the Dracula novel the closer I get to wanting to dismantle the story and put it back together again in a way that would kill Bram Stoker if he wasn't already dead

He's not getting any less dead though so my antagonistic approach to the text can't kill him

When I say antagonistic I mean:

A story inspired by thoughts of how the Queen should get snacked on by Dracula along with the British aristocracy, actually, because for all the xenophobic imperialist mental backdrop of a book where the enemy is a spooky foreign dude, the British empire was bloodier than one single vampire in a silly little castle (even if we focus just on the imperial core, there's plenty to zoom in on with the British industrial revolution, e.g. "the machinery of capitalism being oiled with the blood of the workers", the poverty and deprivation of the working class, everyday exploitation with the added bonus of young men being asked to go off and die in wars because people in silly hats are having a pissing contest). Once Dracula is finished using them as a juicebox he should get beheaded in a worker's revolt because he would underestimate the courage and resiliency of the lower classes and expect to just rule over them. And he doesn't have an iota of awareness of how to manipulate the levers of power in a complicated post-feudal social system he ate most of the rulers of. (For context, I am Irish and a socialist and I will go toe to toe with the fear-laden mental landscape of one of the most famous Dubliners to ever write a novel where British aristocrats are some of the good guys.)

Dracula creeping on Jonathan Harker is spooky in the novel but I also don't respect Stoker's intent there. The overtones of unsavoury interest as supposed to imply some sort of homosexual proclivities was then part of the horror especially for audiences of the time, and I don't want to unquestioningly reproduce this dynamic because sincerely fuck that. The fact that Dracula is queer-coded as a villain as part of what makes him villainous is not something I care to take at face value and reproduce. Potentially writing Dracula/Jonathan Harker where Dracula isn't a manipulative creep engaging in subtle psychological abuse and torture of Jonathan is completely contrary to canon characterisation but there's been a long line of Dracula adaptations with a tenuous relationship to canon and I want to break free of the confines of the text and upend its assumptions. I want an aggressive reading/transformative work that disregards the author's intent to create something different from it, and maybe if I have time I will do it myself. Move over fear of the other we have fear of the self (as being attracted to the same gender) to tangle with and then overcome.

The least antagonistic to the text would be fun little bad ends where the failure of the heroes' mission is part of the enjoyment. I'm gonna write a bit of spooky sexy turning characters into evil vampires who are gleeful about being horrors of the night, as a treat.

I enjoy(ed) reading Dracula but I also want to explode it into its constituent atoms and reassemble them in a configuration that suits me more

#Dracula #Bram Stoker #Harkula #Sometimes fandom is a conversation between you and a long-dead author where you are insulting him #Dracula daily #1897 novels that make my brain rattle against the confines of my skull

[aaeds]

I've had it with HS^2

I don't make fanart or content for this fandom anymore, but after putting on "Let's Read Homestuck" in the background while I've been working I've returned to having a few Alpha kid WIPs. I have also returned to scouring the tags for cool fanart and opinions.

This is not the fandom I remember back when I was reading the comic partway through Act 2.

I cannot say I'm inspired by Homestuck^2, and to roughly quote another user - I don't know who the audience for this comic is for. The epilogues themselves were a disaster and the Candy/Meat timeline idea appears to exist to create even more drama with lackluster stakes.

There's no real clear 'goal' or core to the story besides...the fact there are two universes. And we have Ultimate-self villains.

It reads like bad fanfiction, that's nothing new - the problem is I don't think the authors are writing with irony. The series has turned into a ship-heavy metal bat beating older fans to death with teen drama and character assassination.

The current team clearly has no interest or plans for Jade for example, and in the recent update with Aradia and Robo-Dave discussing time travel - it really seemed like her body being on the floor was an excellent time to rehash several existential conversation points we ALREADY had in the original Homestuck about stable timeloops, dead Daves and how he uses his Godtier powers.

Outside of several unnecessary pages of dialogue, it was disturbing that no part of Ultimate Dave would help move Jade off the fucking floor while he and Aradia sleep in lawn chairs watching her until she became 'The Muse' It is so out of character. Pre-retcon Dave died protecting her body, Davesprite destroyed his relationship with both John and Jade knowing they would be reunited with the 'real' Dave. He was a true knight when he felt it was appropriate and mattered. But now we have a Dave who is back to having an existential crisis about his powers, life and death - and his sexuality. By bringing up dead Dave's Marriage from the epilogues. He didn't even mention Jade by name, presuming the reader read at least the wiki article on the disastrous self indulgent mess.

But that was all he had to say on that dead Dave. Just about not loving Jade. No one else, doesn't even bring up Karkat or Terezi, let alone any of his friends. Talking about Sollux for half a second I'm convinced was just to bring up a failed marriage and apparently 'not wanting to be gay'? This isn't Dave anymore, and if that's the point I want to know why we as readers should care because I promise you coming fresh off Act 6 for the third time these are not the same characters. Davepeta had a better outlook on what it means to experience doomed selves, whether they were chipper about it because of Nepeta's influence is neither here nor there. No matter what Davesprite did, it was in character for what Dave would have done because he knows himself. When it meant self sabotage so his friends could go back to the Alpha timeline Dave, that was a circumstance, and an act any Dave would have made because of the way he thought at 13 years old. That doesn't mean he didn't change, or would never change.

I don't think the furthest ring has rattled the kids in a glass jar hard enough to give them critical brain damage through every doomed timeline that they're different people. At least not in the way Robo-Dave is, or frankly anything in the Epilogue.

I'm done with the writers treating Jade as a dead animal to stuff Calliope into for a milquetoast attempt at a plot device without treating that as a joke in itself.

No Homestuck isn't a serious comic, but there's a reason Cascade broke several websites while Beyond Canon can barely drudge a handful of tagged UPD8 replies. Its audience is small and unchallenged. We don't need to bring back the use of the hard R to be invested in a storyline, but if all you're interested in in a piece of media is gender identity and sexuality well you've got it. That said, neither are a genre on their own.

HS^2 lacks one and direction and it's just going to keep dragging its carcass through the dirt until every unseen pairing in panel is churned through the fanfic machine.

#homestuck #rant #DNI to argue or debate #This is my opinion and it won't change to look at it through deranged twitter specs. #Where the hell is this story even going anymore are we going to scratch the retcon? Merge everything? If Dirk is the true villain #Why does it feel like doesn't matter or that there's no character progression #It's a fanon fanfic come to life and I thought it would get better but this is it. #The unparalleled amount of Davekat at the expense Jade as some kind of foil has me howling.

[dedalvs]

This might be because I'm tempted to introduce you and your work to my followers but am personally aware of how even very impressive work (like your GoT langs) can still be a complication for the artist in the present, by virtue of being Past work., but I wanted to ask what your thoughts on that are? like where do you see conlanging in 15 years, as a thing ppl are interested in

These seem to be two different questions, and I wish you would've elaborated a bit more on the first, as it could mean a number of different things. I'm always delighted to talk about old work (although since House of the Dragon is currently airing, Valyrian is kind of current work, isn't it?), because I can remember what it was like to create it. I may not think some language I created a long while back is the best language, but I can remember why I was doing it, what the goals were, and how I executed them, and I can always talk about that. I don't see that as a bad thing. I guess someone might be worried about people only being interested in their old work and not their new, but that's not a big deal. Time usually evens things out, as long as you're still at it. And if you go somewhere new, there will be a new audience to await you and be excited about what you're doing.

Think about something like Twin Peaks, for example. Richard Beymer plays a character named Ben Horne. Twin Peaks was, like, the IT show for a while, and everyone who had a major (or even minor) role in it became famous—like, next level famous (talking about the 90s). For a lot of people, that is how they know who Richard Beymer is—an older guy who played Ben Horne on Twin Peaks. But he also played a character named Tony (i.e. the male lead) in the movie West Side Story—and, in fact, was nominated for the Golden Globe for best actor. If it's the year 1962 and you're talking about Richard Beymer, you're talking about the West Side Story guy. That was his thing! That was the ONLY thing he was known for! And it was a big thing, and he did a great job. And he did other work in the intervening thirty years between West Side Story and Twin Peaks, but for a while, he was only the West Side Story guy. Then Twin Peaks happens, and younger fans are like, "What's West Side Story…?"

I suppose as an artist there's a concern that if you do it once, you may not be able to do it again. And then let's say you do it twice. Could you do it a third time? And maybe you do it three times, but it was five years, and you were hot then. What about ten years later? Will that be it?

All this stuff is just thinking. It's intangible. If it does nothing to help you, then banish the thinking: Let it in, hear what it has to say, then send it on its way and allow your brain to move on to other things. If your brain gets caught up with thinking like this it won't move on to other things, and those "other things" are what you could be doing now.

The nice thing about creating a language is a language is never done. All the languages I've created for shows are still current, for me. I'm still working on them. None of them have errors or quirks so bad that I don't want to work on them anymore, and I think that's a real sign of success as a conlanger. The languages I created before that, only one would I still work with (Kamakawi); the rest need a total overhaul. (In fact, that was part of the inspiration for LangTime Studio: I wanted to give some of my old languages that I still liked an overhaul. Instead, Jessie and I created brand new ones, and they're even better.)

I don't really know where conlanging will be in 15 years, because right now, it's kind of a mess. There's too much going on and no way to focus in on any one thing—and no way to figure out who's doing what. That means it's harder to find and recognize good stuff. That situation is unsustainable. Conlangers will either give up (imagine a huge crowd gathered to shout for the attention of the queen who's on tour, only the queen never shows up, because there is no queen), or something will happen that allows the community to focus its attention and say, "This is good! Let's look at this for a little bit." Like, music is coming out every day, but we have award shows, we have radio stations, we have movies and shows and commercials that feature music, we have artists curating lists, in addition to self-promotion, of course. Right now we have movies and shows that feature conlangs, but while every show and film has music, not every show and film has a conlang. Then outside of that there's self-promotion. It's not working. Good work isn't being ignored: It's not being found. There's an important difference there. It's not like we all know what the best conlangs are right now and we're choosing not to say anything about them: We literally don't know what or where they are. That's what isn't sustainable.

So yeah, I don't know what's going to happen in the next 15 years. Someone needs to find a solution to this. And it's hard, because there's no one place on the internet where everyone goes. There's no guarantee that anyone's going to see anything. It's not like the old days, where everyone watched what was on TV, and everyone read the newspaper.

Not sure if these were the answers you were looking for, but I hope they serve you well. <3

#conlang #dick-nymph #valyrian #high valyrian #got #game of thrones #hotd #house of the dragon

[thecrazyone1990]

Five Nights at Freddy's Movie Review

Background:

In 2014, Scott Braden Cawthon, a video game developer had created a point-and-click survival game called Five Nights at Freddy’s. The game was made after Scott had gone through depression back in 2013 after his family-friendly game Chipper & Sons had gotten hit with negativity, while also dealing with financial troubles. It got so bad that he even had suicidal ideation. Thankfully he not only managed to recover, but had his faith restored.

            Scott took inspiration from Chipper & Sons and used it to help him create Five Nights at Freddy’s. The game was submitted to Steam in the summer of 2014, which ended up becoming a big success. The game grew in popularity online by YouTubers who did Let’s Play videos. This had YouTubers like Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, and PewDiePie play the game, while making reactions to their gameplay.

            This caused the game to gain such popularity from fans, which led to sequels being made and led to the story expanding as the years progressed. While I only tried out the first game, I can see why so many people loved it and how popular it got. Even nearly ten years later, the film has gained such a following. One that I knew eventually would lead to a film being made.

            A film that would of course, like all other movies, hit a few problems along the way to being made. Because when it comes to making a movie based off something popular, you can bet there will be a lot of issue that will rear its ugly head.  

Film Development:

Making a movie is not exactly easy and it is expected to run into trouble. This is not surprising since when it comes to trying to make a movie, especially one based on comics, anime, or video games there will always be trouble. Mostly because the studios didn’t want to follow through the source material, or wanted to do their own thing, or studio interference. In this case, the film was originally announced in April 2015 that it would be done under Warner Bros. Pictures.

            Before it was announced in March 2017 Blumhouse Productions, under Universal Pictures. With the aim to have the film released in November 2020, before it was announced the script was scrapped. While the film also had to deal with losing Gil Kenan, who was set to be the original director of the film, before he pulled out, and replaced with Chris Columbus. However, he later backed out and was replaced with Emma Tammi, who remained as the director for the film.

            The film was finally filmed February 1, 2023, under a working title called “Bad Cupcake” and finished filming on April 3. The film had a budget of between $20-25 million dollars, while making back in its opening weekend at $130 million dollars. And despite receiving multiple negative reviews from critics, most of the audience who went to see it praised the film. A sequel being announced after the film was released for the future.

            Despite its success in the box office and how it’s likely it’ll make more money as each weeks passes, are the critics right? Is this film flawed? Are the audience right that this film isn’t so bad? What are the positives and negatives of the film?

            And who’s in the right?

Plot:

            The film’s plot follows a bit of game’s plot where we have Josh Hutcherson playing as Mike Schmidt, a down on his luck guy trying to support his younger sister after the death of their parents. Mike unfortunately is dealing with the guilt of losing his younger brother to a kidnapper, who was never found, and the brother assumed to be dead. Despite this, Mike ends up taking sleeping pills at night to try remembering any details about the kidnapping. Hoping it’ll help him find who took his brother and get some peace.

            Mike ends up losing his job after assaulting a man who he assumed was kidnapping a kid. He’s also dealing with his aunt, who is trying to do everything she can to take custody of Mike’s little sister. Not because she cares for her safety, but more to get money from the state. This causes Mike to accept a night job as a security guard at a former popular restaurant, Freddy’s Fazbear’s Pizza.

            The restaurant was shut down due to five missing children disappearing in the place and rumored to have been killed, but the bodies were never found.

            After Mike takes the job, strange activities begin to occur. He ends up getting visions of the missing children and seems to know who took Mike’s little brother. He eventually finds out the animatronics at the restaurant are not only alive, but the souls of the children are trapped within the suits. And its later discovered that the man who kidnapped his brother, was involved in the murder of the children then stuffing their bodies into the mechanical suits.

            Trapping their spirits within the suits, which come to life at night, and end up killing anyone who they come across.

            What I love about this plot is that its kept simple. Much like what they did with the Super Mario, Detective Pikachu, and Sonic films, they made the plots fun. They didn’t try doing anything too crazy and kept it simple while also fun for those who are fans of the series. It doesn’t rely heavily on easter eggs or is filled with jump scares.

            The film does get a little slow during the middle part of the film, while also being predictable when its plot twist is revealed. Despite this though, the plot doesn’t seem to lose its audience as time passes. While also avoiding straying from the lore of the game, which a lot of people end up recognizing when they watch it.

Actors/Characters:

            As for the actors, Josh Hutcherson plays Mike Schmidt, the security guard from the game, but with his own background since in the original, there really isn’t an actual background for the game version.  I really liked Josh’s performance. You feel for him as someone who tries to do their best to raise his sister and deal with his own troubled past. Although, I don’t really see much chemistry between him and Piper Rubio, who plays the little sister, Abhy.

However, I did enjoy the chemistry between Josh and Elizabeth Lail who played Vanessa. Another character from the game, but different than the game version as well. She does a good job playing someone who knows more than she’s letting on, while doing her best to help Mike. Even be understanding and forming a bond with him.

Matthew Lillard does a good job with his role too, but you honestly know who he plays the moment he appears and the way he’s acting. So, when he appears later, you already saw it coming. Despite this though, he still did an amazing job with his role. And people seem happy with what he did.

            The only flaws with the actors I can think of is you don’t get invested with everyone else who are just there to be killed and be forgetful. So, we don’t get much character development with them. While not getting much development with Abby either or how she’s connected with the missing kids too. And some of the characters being a bit cliché.

Although, I did like the actor Michael P. Sullivan who plays the lawyer. When you see the film, you’ll know why.  Still, it didn’t feel like the actors were all half-assing with their performances. They did put as much work into this film as the people behind the scenes did in making it possible, we got the actual suits in the movie. Instead of it being all CGI like many feared the studio would go for.

 Special effects/Practical effects:

            The film doesn’t rely on CGI or a lot of special effects, except for a few scenes. As for the animatronics, which were there thanks to Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. They weren’t CGI, they were there for the actors to properly react to, and even touch. Something that I felt was a smart decision, especially how many people were happy to see them there.

            I love how they even give actual expressions and appear to give better character development than a CGI character we get in other movies.

            The way the film was shot and the references they threw in from the games. The film didn’t need to be shot in multiple locations. They simply had to have the film be shot in at least three to four locations, with the focus in the pizza restaurant. And I love the way they set the final act, which was a lot of fun.

            The only flaw I did find was the tone of the film. There are times they’re trying to go with it feeling like a horror movie, to trying to make it comedic, to then trying to be serious. It felt odd they did this, but it didn’t hurt the film too much. Although, I did wish it was a scary horror movie, but it doesn’t mean I hate what they went with.

            It does have some blood, but never went with gore, which honestly? I think they should have tried making this film Rated-R. I think it would have worked better if they did that. However, I can understand why the film kept it at PG-13. They knew kids love the games, its popular with them, and because of that they got to have the kids go out to see the film.

Final Thoughts:  

            The film has its flaws, there’s no question about it and can understand why critics didn’t like it, but it doesn’t mean they’re right. The film to me is kept simple and was made to be a fun film for people to watch. It’s the same decision that was made for the Super Mario Bros. Movie. The film doesn’t rely on easter eggs though, while also avoiding straying from the lore.

            They made sure it was a film that the audience will love and it pays off. Its flaws, but it’s not bad. I would put this with the Detective Pikachu movie. It wasn’t perfect, but I still found some entertaining moments. With this movie, I felt the same thing.

It’s a good fun movie that I recommend checking out with friends or your teenage kids who have played the game. It’s the kind of film you can sit down and have a good time watching. I’m looking forward to the sequel and hopefully it’ll stick to the formula with the first movie. While curious to see if we’ll even see more familiar Freddy characters appear in the next film, even have Markiplier make an actual cameo.

#five nights at freddy's #movie review #movie #review #video game #game #fnaf #fnaf movie #fnaf review #five nights at freddy's review #five nights at freddy's movie #2023 #film #film review #freddy fazbear #fnaf chica #fnaf freddy #fnaf bonnie #fnaf foxy #balloon boy #mike schmidt #fnaf vanessa #william afton #vanessa afton #steve raglan #scott cawthon #josh hutcherson #elizabeth lail #matthew lillard #markiplier

[starlitcorgi]

Hi......If you don't mind, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hmmm 🤔 my favs are always changing but at the moment.

1. Gokurakugai: Alma is a precious cinnamon roll who loves his mentor Miss Tao like a sister. I really love their platonic relationship and the fact that Alma is incredibly emotionally balanced. Like he's not this typical macho guy. Probably because he's surrounded by strong female role models. It's really refreshing for Shonen and I really hope it gets an anime series because I think it has the potential to be as big as JJK and Demon Slayer.

2. Jujutsu Kaisen: I love Yuuji as a ML and I'm usually a side character gal. So it's great to actually like the lead character. I've noticed in this current generation of Manga and Anime that our Male Leads are becoming much more well rounded and likeable. I love Yuuji's strength and his resilience, he definitely deserves all the love and hugs. I also of course love Gojo and I kind of hope Mappa deviates from the manga in regards to his fate because man that hurt.

3. Demon Slayer: I read the manga start to finish and loved every minute of it. The anime series is just as good. I love all of the characters in this in their own rights. From the protagonist to the villains for me at least the author got everything right. It's Shonen at its best. To be able to make your audience love Rengoku in such a short time is an amazing feat. To care so much that you feel as devastated as Tanjiro to me the Mugen train arc is a masterclass in story telling. It's sad that the series will be coming to an end soon but I think for me this will always be in my top 5.

4. Ghost in the Shell: This is the movie that started my love of anime/manga. It's a cinematic masterpiece and everyone should watch it at least once. It was well ahead of its time and it's not surprising that it inspired the Matrix.

5. Hells Paradise: I love the manga and the anime. Gabimaru is so relatable to me, I think we share the same sarcastic and apathetic nature lol. I love it as well because it gave us one of the best disabled characters in current manga generation. Shion is an epic character for the disabled community, being partially blind myself it's nice to be represented you know? And he's not full of loathing or self pity, he embraces his blindness and uses it to his advantage. He's funny, kind, strong and handsome. He never questions Sagiri's competence, he doesn't try to send her of to the kitchen like his colleagues. He recognises her talent and encourages her to achieve her goals. In short Shion needs to be protected at all costs.

6. Chainsaw Man: when I first saw this pop up on Shonen Jump I didn't have high hopes. It seemed like a crack series but this is exactly why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. I love this series even though it hurts me 😭. Denji is a typical hormonal teen, power is a ball of chaos and Aki is just trying to keep everything together. Plus Angel 😇 is one of my fav characters of all time maybe because he reminds me of my daughter lol.

7. Elfen Lied: this is another classic anime the violence is on par with AOT but once you get past that you have this heart wrenching story. Lucy is a monster created by her environment and the abuse she suffered. This is also one of the most beautifully animated series of all time. The art is phenomenal.

8. Solo Leveling: I fell in love with the Manwha and was so excited when it got picked up for a series. I'm loving the anime so far, though I'm two episodes behind. Due to my sight loss I have to wait for the English dub but dubs have gotten way better than when I first started watching anime in the early 2000's. I love Jinwoo's tenacity and the fact that he just cuts through the villains. He never really worries about whether that makes him a bad person. Sometimes you just want to see bad people get what's coming to them. Plus this has some of the most epic fight scenes, I can't wait to see them animated.

9. Tokyo Ghoul: I spent most of Tokyo Ghoul crying ugly tears 😭. Ken Keneki has one of the most heartbreaking storylines in all of anime. It's just painful to read/watch Gege definitely took a leaf out of the Tokyo ghoul book when writing JJK. Yet still I couldn't put it down, I'm a sucker for punishment. It's a great mix of characters as well, I love that we see goth culture mixed in there as well. You do get those Crow vibes the way it's so gothic in inspiration and the art work is stunning. I think the only illustrator that tops it is Yuta Sano.

10. Attack on Titan: AOT has been deemed controversial because of it's fascist themes. However I think it's only problematic if you think Eren is the hero in this story. I actually really can't stand Eren, it's pretty obvious that he's been radicalised by his experiences early on. The foreshadowing is strong with him you know he's not going to turn out well from the start. The real protagonists for me are Armin, Levi and Hange. Like these three are definitely trying to save their comrades and people. Whereas Mikasa is constantly having to save Eren and Eren jumps to mass genocide pretty quick. Levi almost feels like he's representing the audience with his snarky commentary. I also love Levi and Hanges platonic friendship. They really get each other and their banter is a joy to watch especially in the first season.

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #demon slayer #anime and manga #manga #gokurakugai #tokyo ghoul #ghost in the shell #elfen lied #attack on titan #hells paradise #solo leveling #chainsaw man

[adamwatchesmovies]

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

It’s been over 10 years since the release of How to Train Your Dragon. Unfortunately, this means you can’t catch it the way it was meant to be seen - on the big screen and in 3D - but it still dazzles. This animated film has it all. A great story of friendship, stunning visuals, memorable character designs, an instantly memorable score, terrific voice acting and a great message. It doesn’t matter how old you are, it becomes an instant favorite.

Much to his father’s disappointment, teenaged Viking Hiccup (perfectly voiced by Jay Baruchel) is hardly the dragon killer his village needs him to be. When Hiccup knocks down a Night Fury - the most elusive and deadly of all dragon species - he finds that he cannot kill it, and instead befriends "Toothless".

We've seen stories about sons rebelling against their parents because they would rather dance ballet, sing, or do anything other than do what they're expected to do before. How to Train Your Dragon differentiates itself first and foremost with its visuals. No dragon we've ever seen looks like the ones in this film. Taking inspiration from the book of the same name by Cressida Cowell, the animators went to town on the creature designs, which range from the two-headed Hideous Zippleback - one head spews flammable gas, the other, sparks - to the bumblebee-like Gronckle. All of them are memorable, as are Hiccups classmates. You’re like the overenthusiastic Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), excitedly looking at these beasts and trying to figure out what makes them tick. I predict in about five to ten years, we’ll be seeing highly detailed and articulated action figures of the creatures in this film sold to adults who grew up with this franchise. That’s how iconic they are.

As you can deduce from the title, Hiccup and Toothless eventually form a close bond and our hero becomes the first dragon rider. The first scene in which they take flight together is pure movie magic. The emotions bubble up inside as if it’s you soaring through the air for the first time. Even on a flat screen, the way they zip alongside cliffs, through rocky formations and above the water is so exciting - particularly with the score by John Powell - it threatens to bring tears to your eyes. You recognize the emotional weight of this moment and the visuals are incredible.

The emotional power of Hiccup and Toothless' flight comes from the character work. Directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois have made the genius choice to give a lot of cat-lie attributes to Toothless. He’s effortlessly loveable but also a little wild - if you’ve ever owned a cat, you know what I mean. You’ve seen how Hiccup and his father are. It’s not that Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler) is a bad father, it’s that they just have nothing in common, whereas Hiccup and Toothless? they get along but they do so well. It breaks your heart knowing they’re from two worlds and that there’s no way this is going to work out. Training with Toothless means Hiccup becomes more knowledgeable about dragons than any other Viking. At his school, he’s acing every course, which breaks down the barrier between him and his father. It raises your spirits but creates a dark cloud on the horizon.

In the end, the screenplay by the directors (who co-wrote with Will Davies) finds a surprisingly elegant way to give the audience the happy ending they want and deliver a big action scene that brings together everything we’ve learned about dragons. It’s revealed that every dragon has been stealing food for the biggest dragon of all, a Godzilla-sized mega beast that will eat anything. The genius of this revelation is that it recontextualizes every dragon attack. If only this big bully were gone, then everyone could live harmoniously. In Independence Day: Resurgence, The Great Wall and similar films, this “Queen” that can be defeated to save the day feels artificial. Not here. In hindsight, it all makes sense.

It's one of the best cast animated pictures in recent memory. Christopher Mintz-Plasse as the big, but squeaky-voiced dragon nerd Fishlegs, America Ferrera as Astrid, Hiccup’s rival and possible romantic interest and the other Vikings are terrific. Even these secondary characters are memorable, making you eager to see more. Then we get to the ending, which is mature and somber. How to Train Your Dragon is much more than the sum of its big, action-packed sequences of aerial pyrotechnics, dizzying flying scenes and narrow getaways. It's packed with emotion, action, and fun. I can’t recommend How to Train Your Dragon enough. (On Blu-ray, April 15, 2022)

#How to Train Your Dragon #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Chris Sanders #Dean DeBlois #WIll Davies #Jay Baruchel #Gerard Butler #Craig Ferguson #America Ferrera #Jonah Hill #Christopher Mintz-Plasse #T.J. Miller #Kristen Wiig