#flanderization

[folks-just-call-me-orange-joe]

Wow I hope the phenomenon Flanderization doesn’t happen to my favourite character Ned Flanders

[dougielombax]

I love it when complex, complicated stories in any medium are reduced and condensed to borderline incomprehensible shitposts and memes.

This happened with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and it was hilarious.

[masterj]

Watching SLOTLT:

....Okay... we need to talk about Sodor's Legend Of The Lost Treasure. Many TTTE fans love it and call it "the best special" and "the peak of CGI Thomas." But we need to face facts. It's far from everyone's favorite and actually the Most Controversial of CGI Thomas.

My stance? I say people who don't like SLOTLT are right- just for not for the valid reasons. Prepare to be roasted.

The movie heavily flanderizes Thomas and ruins his character development throughout the series. It practically takes everything that made him unlikable in the Miller era and turned him back into a complete, 100% irresponsible idiot. Take The Great Discovery, a special VERY similar in plot for example. After his trick on Stanley that demolishes the tower, he actually shows full remorse and tries to make up for his mistake.

In Lost Treasure, that is not the case. Here at the start of the movie he's just like, "I'm number one so I can do what I want!"

And it's not until THE DAY AFTER the Dynamite Incident that it finally sinks in and he's like "Aw it was my fault..."

Plus, he would've been mature enough by now not to let Gordon's teasing get to him. In Season 5, he literally tells Percy to just ignore George's insults and simply does just that.

Why are insults such a big deal to him NOW that he has to run of with Gordon's coaches and derail them??? This doesn't make sense! Yes, he is meant to be cheeky, but how the hell do we go from how he's written in Tale Of The Brave to this?!

So much dumb shit happens that could've and should have been easily avoided. The accidents Thomas cause would've have been stopped in a heartbeat if they ACTUALLY REMEMBERED drivers and firemen exist. When Thomas falls into the cavern? HOW THE HELL are they so unaware of the workmen shouting trying to stop them?! How do they not once look where he is going and see the signs?!

They're not even trying! Look at them in the cab! Up until the accident happens they're practically just chillin'! You're not fooling anybody! Are they high on crack in there??? Are they paying rent in there??? Do they just spontaneously go blind and deaf??? Hello?!?! Wake up and control your fucking train!!!

Let's cut back to the coaches. WHY is Thomas shunting Gordon's coaches when that is NOT his job anymore now that he has his branchline?! That's the whole reason the big engines went on strike and Percy was brought to the railway! Topham has HOW many shunters now? And you're SERIOUSLY gonna tell me not a single one could've done it instead? Look how empty Knapford is!

What about the Diesel Boxcab introduced this season? Why isn't he in this movie to do that instead? Did he die?

Overall, SLOTLT is just a pointless Great Discovery rehash sprinkled with stale RWS references, (which help set up this movie's god awful plot in the first place) returned characters, and cinematic visuals and music pretending it's actually a good movie with a likeable plot. Not only does it take the three-strike formula and fail miserably at making it good, (The three accidents Thomas causes) it can't even remember the show's continuity properly for God's sake! For a what's supposed to be a tribute to the RWS, this is not a good look at all, Andrew Brenner. You did not cook.

What's even worse is that for all these years everyone in this fandom just blindly glazes over everything this movie does wrong and then act like it's illegal for someone not to like it and it's disgusting. This movie single-handedly damaged the entire TTTE fandom for 10 years. 10. FUCKING. YEARS.

We already had a special that did this kind of plot so much better in every way. WHY are we doing it AGAIN??? Why wasn't The Adventure Begins enough for this year???

We did not need this. We did not need any of this shit. Just skip to Season 20 and you are not missing too much, I promise you. Peak CGI Thomas my ass. HALF the CGI specials are the least bit more deserving than this shitshow.

This movie sucks. We do not speak of it, I'm done talking about it, it's not canon, it doesn't deserve to be, it never existed. It's dead to me.

All it's got going for it are the visuals, voice acting and music, Donald, Douglas, Alfie and Oliver, Max, Monty, and Daisy returning, and the Miniature Engines introduced. That's it.

Just because a movie looks 'cinematic' does not automatically make it good.

[wu-sisyphus-gang]

Thinking about the upside down reverse flanderization of red vs blue today ...

It started out as goofy bullshit but it turned so serious.

[seaglasswrites]

I feel like fandom tends to emphasize character traits to the point of flanderization, and it contributes to the growing trend of characters being boxed into stereotypes based on whatever’s the closest fit, even if their characterization doesn’t necessarily reflect that.

Characters who are generally kind become innocent cinnamon rolls who can do no harm, impulsive characters become brash ones who rush into danger, devoid rationality or thought, and so on. They become defined by their character trait rather than the trait contributing to them.

[animated-worlds-worst-dad]

My Short Critique of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2012

My first exposure to TMNT was the 2003 series, which aired on TV. Due to my inability to navigate cable, I only saw sporadic clips and action scenes, but what I saw really interesting me.

My second exposure was the 2012 series. This was the first TMNT show where I watched the pilot and decided to watch the series in order.

It was a decent show, but after a rewatch, there were some things that bothered me, like:

April O’Neil (she was poorly written as I'll touch on down below)

Donnie x April x Casey love triangle

Mikey and Donnie not getting serious focus/growth compared to their brothers

Karai's character arc (or lack thereof)

The poorly written humor that feels a bit juvenile at times

The shipping in general (RaMona is the only good one)

The animation in certain places (Donnie retracting his limbs into his shell seems wrong, and the human mouth animations feel a bit putty-like)

Now, I can forgive animation and poor humor (it was the 2010s), but I cannot forgive poor writing.

It's not something that you would notice as a kid, but it becomes more apparent as you keep watching (and especially during a rewatch) that this show was not written cohesively.

The best analogy I can make about the viewer’s experience is this: Twelve people were baking a cake, and at first, everything seemed fine. They knew which ingredients to use, how much of each ingredient, and how to incorporate them into the mixing bowl.

But as time went on, there were arguments, and each baker tried to throw their chosen ingredients in the mixing bowl to overpower the others’. Then, they got notified that the bakery was about to open, so they baked the batter and sold the cake.

And it’s a good cake, many people love it on their first try, but as you keep eating, you bite down on bits and pieces that don’t taste right. You spit them out and examine them. You first throw them away and continue eating, but you keep finding them.

This is most obvious with April O'Neil. It feels like for every three minutes of April per episode, she was being bounced around between five separate writers.

Is she into Donnie or Casey? Is she creeped out by them and just wants to be alone? Is she a whiny brat who endangers the group with her inability to read bad situations or is she a competent fighter with good control over her powers? Is she focused on saving her dad or trying to live a normal life? Does she have good control over her powers or is she flying blind? Is she part of the family or just the resident human acquaintance that eats their food and takes up their living space?

I can't even give you a clear "I love/hate 2012!April" because I know nothing about her except "She was poorly written", and that's not something I can blame a fictional character for. That is the fault of the creator/writer.

Feel free to comment & reblog. Let me know if I got anything wrong, or what things about TMNT 2012 that bothered you.

[nerdy-sunflower]

Y'all can we take a minute to talk about how awful they wrote Cody to be in Suite Life on Deck.

I'm saying this as a former Cody Girl:

CODY AIN'T SHIT

Exhibit A: Personality

In the OG show, they show Cody having various interests, one being sports, like Zack. He wasn't as good at them or as knowledgeable about them as Zack, but he still took an interest in watching and even playing sports.

They BOTH liked playing video games. They BOTH liked riding bikes. They BOTH liked girls and trying to get their attention. Sure, Cody was also great at school and very book smart, but it didn't consume him.

On Deck, Cody seems to know little to nothing about sports and has no interest in them at all. In fact, he seems to have no interest in anything that isn't strictly educational. Which brings me to my next point...

Exhibit B: Cody's lack of shenanigans.

In the OG show, Zack and Cody typically engaged in various shenanigans TOGETHER.

Wanted free bikes? Zack trains Cody to win a teen pageant. Suspect one of the rooms is haunted? Gather their friends to perform a seance. Suspect a guest of conning their mom and their friends? Spy on him and plant traps to catch him. Needed some extra money AND wanted to impress a crush? Rented out London's Suite while she was out of town.

Even Cody gets into his own shenanigans BY HIMSELF. Remember the episode where he moved into a linen closet because he got annoyed sharing a room with Zack?

Do y'all see that kind of energy from him On Deck? NO.

Well maybe in the first season, but for the most part, not really.

Most hijinks Cody finds himself in on deck, he does not take part in as willingly as he did at the hotel. Mr. Mosbey doesn't even blame Cody for anything that goes wrong on the boat! At the hotel, mosbey always came for "the boys", "you two", "the twins", etc. On Deck, he mainly goes after Zack. The only time I remember him being upset with Cody is when they both wear some "traditional" outfits to a party where everyone else is in black tie.

The adults on the show only seem to be upset with Cody when he's being a know-it-all and correcting the adults around him, or being a very pushy perfect student. Like when he and Bailey refused to take part in the senior ditch day so they made Ms Tutwiler stay with them in the classroom and only teach to them.

And when Cody DOES actually take part in any pranks or hijinks in On Deck, half the time it feels out of character for him. Like when he joined in on the prank on Mosbey that resulted in prom getting cancelled. It just doesn't make sense with the direction they took Cody's character in that he would join in on a prank that endangered Mosbey. He spends so much of On Deck sucking up to authority and teachers and never doing anything remotely wrong, to that. Sure, it's Mosbey, and Cody and Mosbey have history, but still it felt off in On Deck.

Exhibit C: Cody's treatment of women

Y'all remember this iconic line from the OG?

Yeah. A few years later, that kid's gonna become a massive incel and write a "play" demonizing his exgf and killing her off at the end.

In both versions of the show, they made Zack to be the "lady's man" and Cody was the one who had a harder time with girls. Even though Cody had his fair share of girlfriends during both shows. Two main ones we're gonna look at: Barbara and Bailey.

If y'all don't remember, Barbara was Cody's crush/friend/gf for a decent amount of the original run for Suite Life. Here's a quick little blip of a scene with them:

(taken from Google btw)

This is probably the beginning of the end for Cody. Sure by the end of the episode, he snaps out of it and accepts Barbara being stronger, and it's never really mentioned again. If you ignore this episode, Cody appears to view Barbara as an equal for a majority of their time together. And they appeared to mention a fairly amicable breakup between them once On Deck aired.

Now let's look at Cody and Bailey. On paper they seem perfect together. Both top of their class, type A personalities, straight A students. Cody was head over heels for her from the start, and when Bailey finally reciprocated those feelings all seemed well. Then the Paris incident.

But let's ignore the Paris incident for a minute. Cody was ALWAYS threatened by Bailey. It shows consistently in the show. They're always fighting to be top of the class. Well, Cody's fighting. Bailey just does it.

Let's look at when the gang gets lost at sea. London, Woody, and Zack all agree that Bailey should be captain and in charge of getting them back home, much to Cody's disapproval. When everyone goes to sleep, Cody changes course behind everyone's back because he can't handle being ignored and not being the leader. When they're on the island, Cody starts sulking because Bailey was angry that he undermined her, yet saw no reason to apologize to her.

And then with the finale, when Cody gets rejected from Yale. While Cody is wallowing in misery, he then remembers Bailey also applied. His immediate thought? If HE didn't get in, there was no way Bailey got in, right? Wrong. Bailey got accepted. Further pushing Cody into misery. Not only was he rejected from his dream school, but his girlfriend WAS accepted and HE thought he deserved admission more than she did.

Cody had a desperate need to be the smartest person in the room, and Bailey challenged him on that. Unlike Barbara, who was also a very intelligent character, Cody didn't seem to view her as equally as he viewed Barbara. Cody thought he was better than her. And when they broke up it struck a chord with him. He couldn't let the breakup, or Bailey go. The nail in the coffin for him should've been the play. After humiliating her like that, Bailey, definitely should've seen the writing on the wall that Cody did not respect her.

Conclusion

There's a lot that I don't like very much about Suite Life on Deck. The worst thing is the general flanderization of all the characters, but with Cody, it just feels like it's on another level, like they're not even the same person. Z&C Zack and On Deck Zack, okay makes sense how we got here, even London somehow losing more braincells in On Deck feels more in character than whatever tf they did with Cody.

[confessmau]

Call me twelve but I still hate how MyStreet took over and thus popularized fucking dogwater versions of characters. Himbo Garroth? Hate him. UwU soft boy Zane? Makes me gag. Werewolf Aaron? We knew like two things about him in MCD and one of them was that he was a WEREWOLF HUNTER. Short and kinda dumb Aphmau??? Literally why????? And I know they are largely kept separated nowadays and I’m glad for it but I simply will never get over it because maybe I would’ve enjoyed MyStreet enough to not grimace every time I think about it if the characters had a shred of what made them likeable and interesting and themselves in MCD

~~

[infernothechaosgod]

Everyday i feel more and more like "you can't handle complex female characters" is less and less of

"complex female characters are often flanderized in favor of demonizing and hating them so much that any critical conversation is gone unless it's about how awful and irredemable she is making it so you can't talk about her freely"

and more and more of

"complex female characters are often flattened in favor of glamorizing and uplifting them so much that any critical conversation is gone unless it's abt how perfect and flawless she is making it so you cant talk about her freely"

You can't even handle her flaws and people talking about them when every other sentance isnt "but shes still great" "I love her!" "*insert thing* mama is still great tho"

Especialy with how damn agressive some of you get over honest to god character analisis that isnt hating at all but reading basic text

Reducing complex female characters only into "the perfect mother who does no wrong" or "the perfect sister who does no wrong" or "the perfect girlfriend who does do no wrong" etc etc in my opinion is way more misoginistic than openly talking about their flaws in a harsh tone

[transgwender616]

Out of all of the characters who were flanderized in Spongebob Sandy's flanderization was probably the weirdest. Not the worst just the weirdest.

In the first 3 seasons she was an athletic tomboy that was a bit reckless but could still be the voice of reason.

After that she's defined mainly as being a scientist even though in the first 3 seasons the only scientific things she did was have a suit and dome that allowed her to live underwater and built a spaceship once.

I understand from a writing stand point that having a scientist character whose not a villain like Plankton helped with episode plots but it's still jarring.

[wolf-tail]

I will never forgive the internet for what it did to Steven Quartz Universe

[glamnessaaumisc]

I just realized a stupid detail about DDLC

In Doki Doki Literature Club, Monika kills all the other characters by flanderizing them to death.

[chemyaart]

That ONE account only draws Purecacao with PV being fragile, pregnant(???), and Dark Cacao is the big daddy alpha "don't hurt my uwu boy" like seriously?

I will forever remember that one specific post about the ancients, and PV had that typical webtoon omega submissive bottom male body. Like, the curves, clothes. But I specifically remember his face. They drew him with a baby face, big eyelashes, blush, everything. And guess what ? The artist shipped Purecacao. At least shadowvanilla shippers keep him somewhat accurate to the game...

[invadezimfan]

Blitzø (season 1 and half of season two) vs Blitzø now after Mastermind and Sinsmas in a nutshell

He went from a fun jacka** who has anger issues, seeks off for revenge, commit crimes for fun, gets laid so many times, refuse to bow down to the royals and even has a sad backstory about his family issues into now a simp servant who will now bow down to his royal boyfriend and will do anything for him even if he still treats him like garbage.

The way of how Viv wrote him now feels so insulting and disrespectful to this main protagonist she made. Blitzø was supposed to be a character who will never bow down to any higher ups and wants to be special by making his own business but now all sudden, he betrayed himself by becoming a simp butler to his s*x offender that he now adores and was rewarded for no dam reasons.

Look I know that they’re in hell and they can do whatever they want but if Viv wanted to make this show to be more softy and refused to kill things that are lgbt related, then what was the point making them as hell demons if you’re just gonna keep babying it by creating stupid canon ships that no one asked for or affecting their dam feelings. If they were humans, aliens or animals, then it would’ve make sense.

I also put Sid in Ice Age 5 as the comparison since he got horribly flanderized by becoming more stupider and annoying and even was pointed out by the YouTuber, Animat that he was rewarded with a woman for no reason (like of how Blitzø was rewarded with a man for no reason).

[billyblaze]

I *still* can't think of a worse example of Flanderization, including Ned Flanders. OG Peridot was one of the most interesting characters on the show by far, and they did us Peridot fans dirty.

LMAO how am I still bitter about this it's been years.