#posts with a target audience of me and maybe 1 other person

[offhandway]

faking my death right now

[jthealien]

Unfashionable Aroace Lesbian Rates Buddy’s Outfits

I may not be qualified to do this (see reasons above) but I do like making lists.

Please note that I’m not trying to genuinely criticize any of the designs, this is all just for funsies! :3 Also my rating scale is very subjective and arbitrary.

Normal Outfit: 5.5/10

—If I'm being real it’s a little goofy,, maybe it’s the stripes

—It’s funny that this is one of his less revealing outfits, and it’s at a point where he hates Chase (having your boobs out as a metaphor for trust or something)

———

Toffee Break: 8.5/10

—I really like the gemstones and the headband, so shiny!!

—Idk I just think this one is nice

—Extra points for cat

—The chest window here was a gateway drug for him showing more skin in all the other outfits

———

We Need to Talk: 8/10

—Oh wow I like the sparkly outfit with gems/crystals who could’ve guessed

—The patterns!!

—And it’s blue!! I think he should wear other colors more often, they look good on him

———

Beach Boys: 6/10

—I mean the tattoo is pretty cool. Don’t have much else to say

—The bracelets and anklets are nice I like those

———

Dreams by Day: 9/10

—It makes me so sad that this is a one-off outfit. I love it so much.

—Like I said, he needs to wear more colors, green especially

—The earrings! Look at them!! He never misses on the jewelry tbh

—Also the scales are super neat

———

Sick Days: 9.5/10

—Guys this honestly might be my favorite outfit of his

—It ticks all the boxes of Things I Like (sparkly stuff, gemstones, feathers/birds, moons)

—I really love the gemstones below the eyes idk what is it about them

—The feather jacket with the big collar!!

—The sort of loose sheer top that fades into being opaque is also fun love that

—Something about this outfit makes him look so pretty. Is it the eye gems it seriously might be the gems (crow brain)

———

Dreams by Night: 7/10

—It’s cool, I like the sheer cape thingy

—He still has to dress up even when he’s dead and in some else’s subconscious <3 (commitment to the bit I respect it)

-(I’m not rating the tattered rag outfit in his own dream I think that’d be mean)

———

All that Glitters: 9/10

—The hairstyle really suits him, but it’s funny he changed it one (1) time and never again. (Honestly same, I never change up my hair I’m afraid of ruining it Forever)

—He kind of has the miles edgeworth cut going on, maybe that’s why I like it

—The waist cape is very pretty with the pattern (is it called a waist cape,, I don’t know fashion terms)

—Eye makeup!!!! Hell Yeah!!!!!!

—King of doing cool things one time and never again (please bring back the makeup)

———

Honor Among Thieves: 6.5/10

—eh

—Look I’m aware I’m not the target audience, I just personally think it was better with the hoodie on (that version gets an extra .5)

—The earring eats though

———

Requiem: 9/10

(Guess who just learned that there’s a 10 image per post limit on the app. I cba so we’re going imageless the last two </3)

—Devil symbolism let’s go!!!

—Love the top honestly, the web-like stuff around the cutouts is cool, and so are the thorns. (Bonus points for the thorn symbolism love that shit)

—The devil’s tail on the pants is a neat detail (pun not intended)

—The little horns! Cute!

—Might be the opposite of their intended effect but I think his fangs are really cute,, he’s so cat idk how else to explain it. I wish he had them all the time.

———

Still Waters: 9.5/10

-He’s so gorjus,,

-Listen. Ok. Something about this one makes him kind of look like a butch lesbian. Do we see the vision or am I insane.

-I really don’t have any other justification for why this one ranked so high, it’s the vibes

-Also return of the earrings!! Basically a cheat code to get me to like an outfit more

-Says something that one of my favorite outfits is the one where he’s showing the least skin (it says that I’m gay)

———

Final Ranking!!

1: Sick Days

2: Still Waters

3: Requiem

4: All that Glitters

5: Dreams by Day

6: Toffee Break

7: We Need to Talk

8: Dreams by Night

9: Honor Among Thieves

10: Beach Boys

11: Default Skin

[flowersforthemachines]

Shameless Self Promo Saturday

thank you @pixiedurango @skullypettibone and @corvus-frugilegus for tagging me <3

The idea: We make a post and show off, what cool stuff we created over the past week. Art, Screenshots, writing (anything from a questionnaire about your OC to the 100K epos...) anything we do is worth to be seen and to be promoted. And by tagging people, commenting, and reblogging, we share the love and boost ourselves, and other's confidence. No matter what form you choose, whether you reblog your initial post, or create a new one with teasers, you decide!

"What did I even do this week?" I asked myself looking through my OG post tag and Woah I Kinda Did A Lot.

First of all, there is the shining light of my life, my Grey Warden Bellara fic Bellara's Diary: On Darkspawn Corruption. I actually finished this fic over a month ago, and I was sooo excited to share it for Bellara week, you have no idea. This is currently the #1 favourite work of mine, everything else will have to move aside, at least for now <3

I also published Athim, a short oneshot about Bellara talking to the Archive before saying her goodbyes. That was a personally important piece since I (as an individual) consider keeping the archive the right choice TM, so I was curious how well I could execute the opposite scenario. And I'm rather proud of how it came out :')

Then, I posted a WIP from my piece about Viago & Ghilasara, Second Opinion. And the fic itself is coming out tomorrow! Maybe it has a target audience of like 5 people, but I'm still so very excited to share it <3

Besides that, I also made some DAVG-themed tumblr dividers. I actually saw someone I don't know personally use one of those dividers in their post and almost teared up.... Can't believe people like them enough to put them on their blogs...

Ahem. Someone (💙💙) inspired me to finally give a try to adding feathers to Ghilasara's custom armour. It's very much a WIP and I'm thinking of redoing that from scratch, but I did post a bit about my latest attempt along with a small silly headcanon here ^_^

And last, but not least, there was this ask about Spite's role in the Lucanisara divorce that ended up as a pretty long write-up. It's probably in the top-2 favourite asks I got on this blog (the other one was about whether Ghilasara would ever hook up with Illario).

throwing tags to @thewardenisonthecase and @mythals-whore <3

[catras-breakup-song]

im crying my fucking balls out i'm just out here scrolling on tiktok at night and baked and suddenly this bitchass motherfucking tiktok of people claiming catradora is abusive using s4 ep3 like LEAVE ME ALONE. I JUST WANT TO WATCH CATRADORA??? these people are making me sob because they're coming to the conclusion that catradora s5/post-canon = toxic and abusive because of this while ignoring the literal steps catra takes to change oh my god i'm going to eat the wall

i feel sooooooo tempted to drop a whole rant about how catra is portrayed as a villain up until the end of s4 where she finally starts becoming better and is on the side of the good guys and these people are failing to differentiate these versions of her/failing to recognize the differences between villain catra and rebellion catra. like hello is growth and change not a thing with you?? is redemption not a real thing??? "ohhh she said ilyiah but she hurt her so much!!" I cant take it anymore. Can you take it anymore?? I cant. how do i permantently block anti catradora tiktoks.

i know exactly how you feel, it stresses me out just as much and i get anxious about the next time i'll have to see anti-catradora content. often i'm not sure how to argue at first and it messes with me mentally to think that they may be right until i reflect on it more and sometimes consult with friends to get their thoughts.

without exaggerating, i've made this media my lifeline. it's what i look forward to when i'm bored or sick or having a hard time emotionally. i've never been so hyperfixated on any show for so long. not to mention, i take attacks on catra's character very personally because of how much i've related to her over the years. it truly feels like when they hate her, they hate me and would believe i'm irredeemably bad (which is unfortunately rather accurate to how people see punitive justice for whomever they dislike). my anger issues do not cope with receiving all this backlash very well. to be fair, i wouldn't end reality over it, but i can't say i blame her (joking... mostly)!

i get it completely and take this vent to heart by seeing myself in your concerns. but here are some things that i always try to remember when i feel overwhelmed:

1. no matter what else catra theoretically/hypothetically could've (not) done throughout the story, whatever was different for better or worse would never change the minds of these critics. they're dead-set on ignoring, out of hatred, the fundamental themes of the show (which is a kids' cartoon) about what traits hurt people need to be given externally in order to make the right choices and what drives their motives to either descend into self-destruction or grow into their full potential for greatness, depending on what their environment tells them. not only that, but fiction has much different standards for what's excusable or can at least be let off the hook easier, since a literal world war with soldiers under the age of 20 does not tend to be relatable to the typical target audience. if SPOP was meant to be portrayed as realistic beyond just the psychological & interactional aspects, maybe we all would be more worried about the stories we're consuming with the messages we're being taught, but that's not nearly the case.

2. if the fact that catra quite literally died and physically suffered at the hands of countless others in her life both before + after was not enough to mean anything, then they don't want rehabilitation ─ they want endless torture for their own entertainment, which honestly makes those hypocrites exactly like her but i'm sure they'd hate to be told so. the point is though, they're not worth listening to because they're approaching these "common sense" takes with bad-faith, and despite how that crowd is rising in numbers by "waking up to the truth", popularity does not equal righteousness. they neither know nor care about what effectively holding someone accountable actually involves as proper accountability is not the end goal regardless of what most of them claim. i may have mentioned before that these people never bring up ideas such as social exile or community service in terms of post-war; they just wish adora, shadow weaver, hordak, and/or prime had thrown her around more. i think that speaks for itself plenty.

3. i know the "media literacy" argument is overused now but they truly lack any amount and fail to consider let alone apply it to their conclusions, and will remember every single time she made life harder for others but conveniently never when she showed empathy and tried to protect them. although they're entitled to their opinions (i.e. "i just can't move past everything catra has done and believe she still had a long way to go before potentially earning a romantic relationship with adora but even then i still wouldn't support it"), the problem with it is that they force that bias into their analysis that they paint as an objective truth and end up willfully misunderstanding how the characters were written (i.e. "catra was always an inherently evil abuser who never once looked out for adora and therefore cannot believably improve, & adora was a pushover who was forced/pressured to forgive catra which ruined her own arc by sidelining/backtracking it").

i know that got rather long, but i hope it made you more confident & assured! if you ever want to write that rant, i'd love to be directed to it in the future (or you can always return to my inbox, but no one would know who the author is unless you come off anon)!

on a final note, i wish i could tell you how to avoid coming across catradora hate on tiktok but if there's a direct way then i don't know it. i can tell you to block the creators as you see them and not engage at all (even if it's negatively), or else the algorithm will get the opposite information and think you want more. that being said, it's quite easy to do on tumblr if you aren't already aware, you just have to filter out these recommended tags. also, everyone else is free to add onto any part of this post!

[tr4shz0ne]

it is the first time I have updated my fic since I have started using this tumblr in earnest so it is time for... ✨shameless self promotion✨

The Man Behind the Curtain is my Taranza/Magolor fanfic that you should read, understanding the following caveats:

it is rated teen for (especially later on in unpublished chapters) sexual implications and substance use. I am very Aware Of Kirby Fandom Audience, and maybe you are not the target demographic for that, and that's ok.

there are some dark mental health valleys that characters, especially Taranza, work through

it is not that action-packed, and honestly there is not much plot other than "characters talk to each other about their thoughts and feelings"

if you accept these things then you should also know that this is a MYSTERY story. by which I mean, Magolor is keeping a lot of things close to his chest, and the fanfic is the process of finding out what those things are. I like to think that the story will be enjoyable regardless, but if you observe the clues hidden in plain sight and understand all of what is going on here, before the story actually admits it, you will probably feel very cool.

because I do like the mystery aspect, i cannot confirm or deny any theories about it, but you should let me know anyway, and one day they will be confirmed or denied. someone out there will be the first person to contact me with the correct answer, and it could be........ you

OK, I have gotten this post out of my system. have a nice day

[dicklessthewonderclown]

hi dean, I was wondering what your thoughts on incest in fiction or fanfiction are? Not specifically in spn but maybe also related to that

also you’re pro ship right? Like you’re pro everyon shipping what they want to, not the dumb definition TikTok has popularised

anyways have a good one!

the thing is that a lot of people, ESPECIALLY on tiktok, seem to have forgotten basic fandom etiquette like ship and let ship, don’t like don’t read, and ykinmkbykiok

my view or opinion on things doesn’t matter in a larger context. it only matters to me. i curate my fandom and internet experience for me personally, because that’s the way the internet works. if i see something that i don’t like, i simply block the account and keep scrolling. as should be the case with everyone. especially an a platform like tiktok where your experience is heavily curated by an algorithm, and interacting negatively with things you don’t like is still interaction and you WILL see more content like that

is incest ever something i’ll read? no. it’s always something that i filter out of tags, and if something in a fic gets even a little too close for my liking, i’ll almost certainly dnf it

HOWEVER it’s none of my business what other people are reading or writing or shipping. i’ll simply keep scrolling, because i am not the target audience of that content

there’s simply no point in trying to assert your views on morality onto other people in an attempt to win an argument to be the moral highpoint. particularly on ao3

the reason we have ao3 is because of incest ships, and trying to erase their existence 1) isn’t going to work, and 2) super fuckin hypocritical. censorship, but ESPECIALLY censorship rooted in one person or one group’s idea of morality is an incredible slippery and dangerous slope

a censorship free place not only means that you can post whatever you want, but also that other people can do the same. in order to have one, you MUST have the other. and bitching about that is only going to make other people dislike you

fandom is supposed to be fun. and if you spend all your time trying to police what other people interact then that’s not fun for you or anyone else involved.

stop trying to be the morality police. ship and let ship. don’t like, don’t read. ykinmkbykiok

[kelpermoosee]

hii its the anon who asked abt the samus thing, ngl id love to read a a post abt your opinion on the series since you hinted at that in the initial response

Hi again! Glad you're willing to hear my thoughts about it because, ohhhh boy, do I have a lot! I'm not the best at articulating my feelings, but I will definitely try!

Not entirely sure how to structure this, although I do want to make it clear that I am probably NOT the target audience for this show. So most points might seem a bit nit-picky if anything, but then again I am just rambling about my personal thoughts haha!

To start off, I obviously enjoy the show a lot. Like, way more than I ever expected. I get super excited every time new episodes come out, and I have re-watched the entire thing multiple times. I think the music and artstyle is nice, and the voice acting is surprisingly good for a web series like this. There's no denying that a lot of time and effort was poured into it, and you gotta give credit where credit is due.

Despite this, I do have a few personal gripes, mainly about how they utilize their characters. To make things easier to read, I'll put them into a numbered list:

1. The Constant Romance

Okay, most highschool AUs are going to have some sort of teen romance, it's practically inevitable. However, with Nintendo High I can't help but notice how its a constant thing in nearly every episode. Granted, a lot of teen dramas probably do the same thing and they're just playing off that, but I don't really watch that kinda stuff. I'm also aromantic (and again, NOT the target audience), so I am more critical of how romance is portrayed in media. Other people might not mind it at all, and that's completely fine! It’s all up to preference!

Yet after some time, I found the constant romance plots to be a bit tiring. There's a lot of ideas you could do with a highschool AU outside of romance, especially if your cast consists of Nintendo characters. Have the cast establish a new club! Face off in grade-wide competition (like a version of senior assassin)! Go on a field-trip! Pull an all-nighter for an assignment! There's a lot of fun highschool things they could twist into something unique, and I'd love to see it!

Maybe this is why I enjoy episodes like Identity Theft (S1 EP 4) and Rivals (S2 EP 1) so much. I think all NH episodes are creative in their own ways, but these plot lines certainly stood out the most.

2. How the Show Handles its Female Characters

In addition to the constant romance, I'm not the biggest fan of how the female characters are portrayed in the series. Generally, they only seem to be included/described when its regarding their relationship to a male character.

When most of them get screen-time, they're always talking about crushes, gushing about a hot guy, or fighting over some dude. Even if they're not talking, they're probably blushing at another male character. This part also falls under the constant romance thing, except I think it fits better here.

This is very apparent in minor characters like Rosalina (and maybe even Zelda and Samus?). She hardly gets any time to be her own character outside of her relationship with Waluigi. Even her series introduction was when Waluigi fell in-love with her at first sight. This may be due to time constraints, though it still bothers me to an extent.

I can say that the series is trying to get better at developing their female characters. Royal Pain (S2 EP4) clearly tries to do this by moving away from Mario and Luigi to instead focus on some of the girls. In fact, you could argue that Rosalina and Zelda get to show off their personalities more, but to be honest I have mixed feelings about this episode.

This is definitely crossing extreme nit-picky territory, because I think I'm just disappointed by how it was about babysitting of all things. Of course, I understand that this is a common trope in lots of shows. But when compared to Mario and Luigi-centric stories, the boys get to go on a fetch-quest around school, deal with an alter ego, find out about their (presumedly deceased) parents. While on the other hand, the one episode starring the girls as main characters is about...babysitting.

Sure, the babysitting plot line is a neat way to include Ness and Lucas (actually, I loved how much chaos they caused), and doesn't center itself on romance. However, I think it pales in comparison to the scope of other plot lines. It's not a boring episode by any means, I just feel weird about giving the girls attention outside of their relationship to the boys, to then immediately put them into a caregiving role. That's probably me overthinking it though, for sure.

I believe Peach and Daisy are handled way better in Mall Brawl (S2 EP8), specifically during the Mario & Luigi-inspired fight scene. Not only was it fun to watch, but it also shows how capable they can really be. Overall, it's a great step forward and I would love to see more moments like that!

3. Mario & Pauline's Characterizations

In a show like Nintendo High, it's obviously going to have its own interpretation of the characters. Nearly everyone is a teenager after all, you can't expect them to be exactly the same as their original counterparts. Yet, even with this in mind, I still dislike how Mario and Pauline are characterized in this series. They feel so far removed from the source material that they're practically OCs.

For Mario, they trade his cheerful, happy-go-lucky nature for something more sarcastic and nonchalant. These traits aren't a bad thing to have, but it doesn't feel like Mario anymore to me (even if the show tries to imply that this behavior/teenage angst stems from the loss of their parents). I don't need him going "Oh yeah!" or "Let's-a go!" in every sentence, I would just like to see a little more enthusiasm is all.

Maybe I'm over-exaggerating, since he's gotten slightly better across the course of the series. It's small, yet noticeable I suppose.

For Pauline, they twisted her to fit the "mean girl" archetype because they needed someone to be Peach's rival. This drastic change tosses away all of Pauline's core personality traits, so she's no longer kind-hearted and confident. Instead, she's egotistical and overly jealous, which doesn't really sit right with me. Especially after the elephant fruit joke at the end of The Date (S2 EP7), it really rubbed me the wrong way.

If NH needed to have a rival for Peach, I believe there are a handful of existing characters they could've used without changing Pauline. Maybe Princess Shroob would've been fun, even if she's more obscure in comparison.

With Season 3 currently in production, perhaps these points won't be as relevant anymore. Again, I obviously care a lot about the series and I wouldn't have so much to say about these aspects if I didn't. There's some room for growth, and these are simply my personal feelings. Although, if anyone wants to discuss more about these points, I'm willing to listen!

It's been a while since I've re-watched the entire series, too. So I'll probably get to that once the next episode comes out. <3

[amaiguri]

Wanna see the business side of story-based games?

Me! I want to! 👋 Hi, I'm Amaiguri. I'm a full time gamedev and I've released two games before and correctly predicted how much money I would make each time! Wow!

I've been considering converting the webfic I write into a story game of some kind -- a visual novel or a RPGmaker game or maybe even a walking sim? But I didn't know what I wanted to make!

This story has been THE STORY of my early adult life here -- it is SO important to me. So, while I'm a huge advocate of making whatever you want, I wanted to ensure whatever I put my effort into would be VAGUELY marketable. (Because, lemme tell you, webnovels are not marketable XD)

Before I dive in too deeply, **BIG DISCLAIMER**:

I am not a business person. I am using big, wide guestimates to make non-essential business decisions with myself. BUT I want to share my learnings with you. So, take everything I say with a grain of salt and JOIN ME on this journey:

Earlier this month, I made a post about wanting to make a visual novel. Specifically, a kinetic visual novel where you don't make choices and you just read basically. SO I've now done research into how well they sold. I used THIS website to determine how much money each of these games made (VERY loosely):

Juniper's Knot: ~$4k USD

Higurashi (The Whole Series): ~$300k USD (Averaging like 400 reviews per game and $50 for the whole bundle)

House in Fata Morgana: ~$1 million USD

I picked these out mostly because these are the small handful of kinetic novels I have actually heard about. I'm not saying there aren't other, more successful ones I haven't heard about but I figure, if I'm supposed to be representative of my target audience, I'm as good of a sample as any for this wild estimation.

Besides, Higurashi has a whole anime -- it is definitely fair to use that as an upper end -- and Juniper's Knot -- a tiny game no one has heard of -- as the lower end. (I mean, $0 is the lower end, but... you know...)

This paints a pretty stark picture, honestly. Like, this is looking at 6 to 8 years of work for... maybe a couple thousand for me? Realistically? Maybe up to $300k if I'm super lucky and go viral? And I'm not saying that isn't LIFE CHANGING money but like in the MOST MIRACULOUS scenario here, I am compensated less than my current salary for my current magnum opus. But realistically, I'm looking at maybe $1-4k if I get lucky. I'm not a horror-writer and I'm not a romance writer -- I will not have THAT feral of a fanbase XD And on top of all of that, I don't even play that many kinetic visual novels. I'm barely in my own target demo here!

Now, compare that to the numbers I ran on RPGmaker games where you just do narrative and there is very minimal gameplay:

Rakuen: 4000+ Reviews, over $100k in profits estimated

To the Moon: $8 Million in profit

A Bird Story: Definitely sold worse than To the Moon, was cheaper to make and cheaper to buy -- estimated at $397k

Wadanohara and the Great Blue Sea: Dunno cuz it's free BUT its manga adaptation has 267 reviews on Amazon -- so the creator COULD have made bank on the actual game

See how much higher those are? Even when they're not as well known? And sure, the bottom is still $0 ultimately but the upper limit, with the most successful of these titles (and incidentally, the video game that convinced me to get into Game Design) is much much higher.

"BUT BELLE! Laura Shigihara did the music on a lot of those! You don't have Laura Shigihara!"

Ok BET! I'll hire her! The base industry rate for music per minute is $100/min. Let's suppose now she charge 10x that, cuz she's famous -- $1k/minute of music. I get her to compose a 3 minute song for $3k BUT she also brings over... say... 5% of her audience to check out my game.

That's admittedly, a high conversion rate so we'll just take 5% of Rakuen. Now, I'm imagining I'd charge like $25/copy of my game because it's gonna be like 300k words -- people pay $25 for a book of that length, so if I have art and programming also, I can do that. With just her 5% of Rakuen reviewers (21 reviewers of her 4.3k), that's like $7k USD. So, she'd probably just pay for herself and then some.

And to top all this off: I'm back in the target demo. I am ABSOLUTELY the kind of person who will play a solodev's RPGmaker game and forgive all jank and flaws and lack of gameplay if the story, art, and music are good.

That is, of course, making the assumption that I'll make good music and art 🥺🥺🥺

Now obviously, all this is WILD guestimates so like. You shouldn't make business decisions off this. I'm barely making "business" decisions -- I'm making hobby decisions. I have a full time job and I intend to keep it. BUT I think it's pretty clear where the potential money might be for me -- RPGmaker games.

Eris (Blinking): Thank you for reading!

[myaoiboy]

Hi I saw that you answered an ask* the other day and I wanted to know if you continued with your analysis or if you could continue. I was really interested and curious to know more about it. I really wanted to know what you had to say, seriously, I could read a bible of Death Stranding reviews!

*https://www.tumblr.com/myaoiboy/739740134244794368/death-stranding-gender-talk-you-say-count-me-in?source=share

Hi! I totally can keep talking about Death Stranding forever (I know it's a very divisive game but imo on the whole the writing is like a well-oiled machine in ways that MGS just barely started to scrape askdjfh)

For the most part I haven't talked a *ton* about it at length because the series is just getting started and I feel weird making assertions that are likely to be fully subverted within a year or two. MGS has like. well, now, 25 years of shit going on. Sequels, prequels, fanon, etc., that Death Stranding...hasn't really had time to grow into yet.

I also tend to intentionally only post for dead series because the fandoms tend to be chiller lmao

Plus the fact that I got into DS right around the time that DS2 was announced, so I'm sitting here twiddling my thumbs knowing that there's about to be more content and context that I just don't have access to yet. I already feel like there's a lot more to be learned about the first game, just from the latest trailer drop.

Honestly I think the thing that really gets me with DS is that despite the borderline insanity of the setting, to me, there's a lot of dramatic irony and meta knowledge that makes DS pretty easy to follow compared to, like, any single MGS game. Maybe I'm just the exact target audience that the writing was intended for, but most of the big reveals felt less like a sucker punch and more of a dramatic swell.

Some reasons for this (please be gentle i am taking cutscene SCs from youtube videos, they're gonna look like shit):

First of all, this is basically frame 1 of being formally introduced to Amelie, we see...this lens flare. Look familiar?

...how about now?

We are introduced to her instantly with a sign of danger. A pretty one, but a sign of danger nonetheless. The fact that it's an inverted rainbow is important! It shows up around timefall because of chiral air disturbance. We don't know that yet in-game, but if you know about how light works you know that there's something Wrong(tm) about this.

A regular lens flare shouldn't be causing an inverted rainbow if it's causing one at all. I think in this cutscene Amelie's presence is causing that inverted rainbow. Throughout the game, people come up with various theories of their own to excuse her connection to the beach. Little do they know at the time how right they are...

She's also heavily backlit, which hides her features in an unsettling manner. In fact, I really can't think of anyone else that this happens to throughout the game (if anyone knows of another example PLEASE let me know!!!)

She gets pretty damn close before that rainbow disappears, but this is where I very quickly lost my initial trust in her (as the player).

I jokingly called called this her "Fox News reporter look," but it's very much constructed in a way that made me suspicious.

Let's talk about that red dress.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: Kojima fucking LOVES using color language, especially red, blue, and gold. It's been super obvious and explicit since like 2012.

The fact that we meet her wearing a red dress is not a coincidence!!! It's a great big flashing warning sign! It says "hey, this person is going to betray you! Do Not Fucking Trust!!!"

Compare Amelie's name card to Paz's from Peace Walker:

The art styles are different, but there are a couple of main throughlines. Namely, both have an emphasis on the color red, both are young (looking) women who are lying about their identities in order to ask the main character a favor. Characters vouch for them, from trusted advisors, to the main character himself in DS. And then they try to bring about armageddon.

Basically what I'm saying is that they're both the embodiment of white woman tears a wolf in sheep's clothing, if the sheep's clothing was still dripping in blood. We (characters, and maybe the players) believe that she's on our side because we want to believe she's on our side, and because other people that we ostensibly trust tell us she's on our side, while the extremely dissonant narrative and imagery of the scene are SHAKING US BY THE SHOULDERS TELLING US TO SNAP OUT OF IT.

Add to that the fact that we kind of vaguely, through that intro cutscene post-central knot explosion, know that the beach is connected to dying somehow, and that amelie seems to be on it, doing very stereotypical little girl in horror things there, like singing nursery rhymes slowly while walking into the ocean.

So we've basically been told that Amelie is Not Good, but we have to spend the game piecing together what kind of Not Good she is. The first hint is (surprise!) also in this cutscene!

I don't recall off the top of my head if I knew at the time how heavily egyptian mythology plays into DS, but I do remember this cutscene giving me a bad gut feeling about the concept of the West.

Very few Big Concepts in these games (the West, strand(s/ing), patriotism/nationalism, etc) are only symbolic of one thing. That's also true across the board in basically all art, but I feel the need to point that out in public posts because I don't want someone to eg, think that I say something means one thing, and then back that up, and then people think that means it can't mean something else! It can (and often does) mean both! and sometimes that additional meaning is super important!

Anyways, Die Hardman refers to Amelie going West. We don't really use that phrasing much, so it stuck out to me as euphemistic. Especially since we saw her after we died, and there's so much euphemism going on from the bridges team anyways. I mean, cufflinks "symbolize our connection?" Girl, you locked me to my bed with them. You drain my blood with them to turn into weapons. Call 'em what they are.

You'll even notice in the same cutscene that Amelie says "we made it to Edge Knot City" and Sam replies with "all the way to the Pacific?" Not "all the way to the west coast," or even a single question about why she was on the/his beach.

If you know anything about egyptian mythology, you might know that west is considered the direction of death and the underworld. ancient egyptians buried dead people on the west side of the nile river. Osiris, god of death and mummification, and king of the underworld, is referred to as "foremost of the westerners" among his epithets.

So the vibe that I got instantly was "Amelie is already dead, she led her team to die, and they are basically sending Sam on a suicide mission" though I didn't realize exactly how I was right at the time.

The other big thing I recall setting off my alarm bells as the game went on was the fact that nobody you meet has ever met Amelie in person. It's a very slow reveal, especially since most people seem to see online meeting and in person meeting to be mostly the same, and we're told that she set out with bridges one. That she went west. Turns out that...also wasn't literal.

I don't remember exactly when I started wondering if *sam* had ever even met her outside of the beach, but I do remember thinking that there was something off. For a little bit my guess was that she was entirely fictional, some sort of AI (pretty influenced by all the "dead person brought back by AI/hypno bullshit ngl), or maybe that Higgs could somehow disguise himself in the Beach in ways i didn't understand yet.

But I didn't feel *worse* for being able to figure things out ahead of time, I felt clever that I could piece together all the little hints and have a good idea of what was going on. It made death stranding feel more like a coherent sci fi narrative rather than a cheesy action story that's expected to follow certain strict genre conventions.

Not that I'm saying mgs or action in general are bad, but rather that imo Death Stranding feels...more mature and confident in some ways (and also isn't bogged down by 20 years of previous work. which. i don't even like my own shit from a year ago half the time, i cannot imagine having to write within the constraints you created TWO DECADES prior kjhksjfh). Maybe it's that it feels like less of a genre subversion and has more genre utilization? dunno. Now I'm thinking too much like an english major lkajshdf

But yeah anybody who wants to talk about anything totally feel free. Or if you want to give me prompts to write about. I will always be willing to talk about things for way too long on the internet. I just don't always reply quickly because I start rambling....Like This.

[ir0n-moon]

I was just on the OC Wiki for the first time in eons, and I noticed Moira's page is empty now. That's so sad, she was a lovely character! I don't think she's not good enough at all! Anything I can do to help you get her to a better place as a character? I'd be happy to help both you and her! 🖤

Oh yeah I remember I emptied her wiki page some months ago. Thank you for thinking such nice things about her <3 She very much still exists and I do intend to keep posting about her here (...whenever I get the chance to sit down and draw, anyway). I think about her and her relationship with Charles very often!

I just removed her from the wiki because I feel like she's not good enough compared to the rest of the OCs in there lol. She is very very much a self-insert, wish fulfillment -type of character and to be honest it makes me really insecure to know that people are out there creating characters with actually thought-out backstories and personalities 🙈 Like I'm still gonna be posting about her here, but having her on the wiki gave me major stage fright (even while being aware that no one actually cares that much). Same reason I don't really post about her on your lovely server either lol 😅

Cause like... I know that calling characters "Mary Sues" is very passé at this point and I fully 100% wholeheartedly support other people making up OCs that could be classified as such. It's just that by putting my own Mary Sue among other OCs it feels like I'm encroaching on a space that really isn't mine (I know this explanation makes zero fucking sense)

On the other hand... I am not a writer and I don't think I've ever intended to be one! So, in the same way that many people are perfectly content with making spontaneous art with cheap color pencils on lined notebooks and aren't too interested in learning about anatomy, composition or color theory because their #1 priority is just having fun with it... I guess I'll have to be perfectly content with creating poorly written characters. Either way, I don't want Moira to have good writing, I want her to make me feel good! 😂

So I appreciate your offer <3 I really admire your writing abilities and maybe in another life I'll get to be someone who can create characters and stories for which the target audience isn't just me straight up jorkin' it. One truly has to be their own OCs' biggest fan cause no one else really cares that much about them 😅 And I really like Moira. I very much plan to keep sharing more about her on my blog. It's like... this is my house and I can do whatever I want and people are welcome to stay or leave. But sharing her in places where it's (implicitly) expected that other people might PERCEIVE and ENGAGE with my stuff? GOD, I'd need to ask my shrink to up my dosage. Posting on my art account is anxiety-inducing enough 💀

Apologies for both the late reply and this being a longass post. Again, I'm not a writer and I can't summarize my thoughts to save my life

[destinygoldenstar]

Disventure Camp Character Impressions *Compilation* (Part 12)

<< Part 11

***

Oh this is cute.

She's just sunbathing.

SHE'S WATCHING FROM AFAR. 😈

"For my next showing, I will spy on my fellow allies from afar, and once Hunter is gone, I will use my spying to STRIKE AND BREAK THEM UP!"

NO RIYA THAT'S NOT AS EVIL AS YOU THINK! AIDEN SHOULD NOT BE WITH HIM!

"I was a little distracted."

"By your queer crisis? Hunter, you're a bad actor."

"Why would I want to be in an alliance with you?"

"Think for a moment, Riya. What will happen when I'm not there?"

"Bitch, you think I'm stupid? It'll be finale, and then I can CRUSH THEM."

"Okay..."

That was NOT convincing. The way she said that.

"Okay... I ain't helping you with shit."

"It feels good to be in control of the game."

"For my next showing, I shall play BOTH SIDES! And do what Ellie didn't, and pull everyone's strings like puppets! THESE BOYS ARE MY PUPPETS FOR MY SHOW!"

Meanwhile Ellie is watching this like, "GODDAMMIT I SHOULD HAVE DONE THAT! NO RIYA WHY ARE YOU ROASTING ME?!"

"What will happen after this?"

"I go find a new target."

"See you at the beach in fifteen minutes."

Aren't they already at the beach?

"GO TO THE BEACH AGAIN."

"We're already here-"

"GO AGAIN."

"Ugh! A final three changed my plans!"

You didn't watch Season 1?!

Well, I mean, TO BE FAIR, she is from another country. So MAYBE she didn't.

Would explain her behavior up to this point.

"I saw the anime edit. The crappy version. In that they cut the episode in two so that there was a final two. Just like what Golden did."

She's more of a girlfailure than a girlboss. But I kinda love that.

XD

She really said "Fuck you" to this man!

"For my next showing, I will showcase how much of a dumbass Hunter is! He thought he could make me conform to what he wanted?! He thought wrong!"

NO RIYA HE'S ACTUALLY NOT THAT BAD OF A GUY, HE'S JUST NOT THE SMARTEST.

"This is just like the spider you held up like it was nothing."

"Remember that, homie? When you got Karol to the hospital and killed that spider? Pretty sick, huh?"

"Riya jumps out of level four!"

LET'S GO QUEEN. NO FEAR!

"For my next showing, I will join the diving sport in the Olympics! My picture perfect dives will be shown on the magazines!!"

NO RIYA I DON'T THINK YOU HAVE THE TRAINING FOR THAT!

"In a rare and brave display, Aiden and James jumped off the lowest levels."

And Riya's over here like "WHAT DO YA MEAN A RARE AND BRAVE DISPLAY?! I JUMPED OFF HIGHER!! WITHOUT HELP!!! HOW DARE YOU STEAL MY SPOTLIGHT!!"

"For my next showing, I will lure Aiden to a cliff and shove HIM off! The show will love that!"

NO RIYA THAT'S MURDER.

"When James said he'd give me a push, I thought he meant it metaphorically."

"I want a divorce."

"It's very dangerous to have an alliance with a couple so close to the final, but I know exactly how to deal with them."

"For my next showing, I shall recreate the Tom and Jake breakup! They will be deceived by my lies and pin the blame on each other! And they will break up dramatically in a glorious heartbreak that will make the audience CRY!"

"...or you know I could just tell Aiden that James is kind of using you. Where's the lie?"

NO RIYA HONESTY IS NOT THE BEST POLICY! DON'T LISTEN TO MY LITTLE PONY!

*Gets a Pie Ad*

"He uses Pie! And blocks ads! He doesn't actually get paid! For my next showing, I will leak James' unedited posts on the Internet! He will get demonetized and banned!"

NO RIYA IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL THAT COULD BE DOXING!

"Thanks for giving me that push, James."

"Thanks for trying to kill me."

"I'm sure your fans love that kind of content."

She's calling them OUT XD

"For my next showing, I will expose how the gays are being used for bait! You put a gay person on screen and you will get millions of views! It's a perfect marketing scheme!"

NO RIYA THAT'S QUITE A SHIT WAY TO TREAT QUEER PEOPLE! THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH JUST TREATING THEM AS CHARACTERS FIRST!

"Just shut up!"

"Oh James... OOOOHHH JAMES... YOU UNDERESTIMATE MY LACK OF ABILITY TO SHUT UP."

"She's just saying nonsense things."

"For my next showing, I will call out James' bad grammar! NO ONE SAYS NONSENSE THINGS NEXT TO EACH OTHER IN THE SAME SENTENCE! THAT IS COMPLETELY A NONSENSE THING!!"

NO RIYA YOU CAN'T ROAST HIM BY DOING BAD GRAMMAR YOURSELF, EVEN IF IT IS PART OF THE ROAST!

SHE LOOKS AT THE CAMERA SAYING THAT LINE XD

"Yeah! YOU! I'm looking at YOU! Look who you've been routing for this entire time! THE TRUTH ABOUT JAMES!"

"Fuck my followers!"

😂

I'm sorry, I know this is supposed to be serious. THAT F BOMB GOT ME HOWLING.

😂

Aiden "All you care about is them!"

James "Fuck them!"

Aiden "Well shit, you care about no one, then. THAT'S TOTALLY BETTER!"

SHE IS READING HIM FOR FILTH RIGHT NOW

SLAYING HARD

"For my next showing, I will create a MOVIE out of James digging his own grave in the social media department! HE WILL BE AMONG THE CANCELLED! OF THE LARGEST BLOGS TO EVER BE BANNED FOR HARASSMENT!!"

NO RIYA THE TENTH LARGEST CHANNEL TO BE BANNED IS THREE IN A HALF MILLION FOLLOWERS, JAMES CAN'T MAKE THAT LIST!

On YouTube anyway, idk about anywhere else.

"Guys, calm down-"

"You shut up Hunter!"

XD

"This is ENTERTAINMENT, Hunter! This is Total DRAMA! Don't spoil my popcorn for me!" 🍿

RIYA'S SO SMUG ABOUT THIS TOO I LOVE IT XD

Riya "Have fun getting cancelled."

James "You do realize your friends are seeing this on TV, right?"

Riya "That's where you're mistaken, James. I HAVE NO FRIENDS!"

"Don't blame me. I didn't tell any lies. I just exposed what I read."

And she makes excuses too.

Riya "It is under my contract that I take NO responsibility for any damages I do in the show! You can't come after me!"

"Since when do you care about me?!"

"That's where you're mistaken, Aiden. I DON'T."

"I didn't tell any lies!"

"I DID NOTHING WRONG!!!"

"...EXCEPT I DID AND I KNOW IT. BUT IT'S MORE FUN TO MAKE PEOPLE MAD!"

"You're an opportunist!"

"YEAH OBVIOUSLY BITCH. I'M AN ACTRESS."

"Hunter, why do you care? There are more important things you should worry about!"

"Like about how you should sleep with one eye open tonight if you don't get immunity!"

"...that wasn't a threat, I was exaggerating. Uh.... can I have that cut from the edit please?"

"I'm sorry about everything that happened today."

"Even though you are kind of messed up for what you did."

"I said horrible things at the beginning to my friends, but that's not how I feel right now."

The fact that NONE of your friends called you out right away is CONCERNING.

Like, what did James learn?

I get what they're TRYING to say. At first he wanted to use Aiden for fame, but then he grew to actually care about Aiden and like him.

It took two people to the hospital threatening Aiden, and for Aiden to be dirty the second time, for him to reach that conclusion that he likes Aiden now.

THAT BOY CAME OUT TO YOU ABOUT SOMETHING VERY PERSONAL TO HIM BECAUSE HE GREW TO TRUST YOU!

Idk HOW, but he grew to trust you.

AND YOUR FAME HUNGRY ASS MADE HIM FEEL EVEN MORE UNSAFE THAN HE ALREADY WAS.

I DO NOT FEEL BAD. Especially if he ISN'T apologizing for how he played the game besides "I should've let Aiden join in on deception and hospitalizing people too. I'm not gonna ask if he wants to do that, though."

"It's not her fault. It's mine. And that's what makes me feel worse."

"Consequences for my actions SUCK. 😢Crying emoji."

Continued In Part 13 >>

[socialjust-ish]

Hey so first with respect to your tags: I didn't take this as trying to start a fight at all, and thought this was a very thoughtful and fair response. I hope my tone in my post didn't come off as dismissive or argumentative - I also was just explaining my thoughts on the topic (and on mobile, where I hate typing, so was briefer/more curt than I maybe ought to have been).

I absolutely agree with points 1 and 2, above. HBomb's video is about being careful with what you consume, not falling into the same traps as Somerton if you want to make videos, and the importance of credit. Somerton was a useful example, but shouldn't be a target of hate - and HBomb even says as much in his video. Similarly, because it's the internet, it's very easy for valid criticisms to quickly slip into attacks - and attacks on things that aren't relevant to the quality of the video - like you said.

I'm going to put a very brief summary of the remainder of your points below, and if you feel this is an unfair summary, please let me know. I'm not trying to strawman you here, but just make it clear what parts of your post I'm responding to because it is fairly long. If you take issue, let me know.

So your first point under item 3 is, essentially, "Video essayists don't need to have high production values, it's okay to have a format with minimal visual flare, and act, essentially, as a podcast with optional video material in some cases".

I would agree - that's totally okay! You can enjoy that style and produce that style and be very successful - and "success" here doesn't just mean financial success - it can be there via creative fulfillment, personal satisfaction with your work, whatever. If the creator is happy with how it turned out, and their audience likes it, more power to them.

But, it's also important to acknowledge that "these videos have minimal production value" is a valid criticism. Tastes are subjective and one person can have "minimal production values" as a positive, while another person can have it as a negative. Both critiques are acceptable. No style is "correct", but because of that, people are allowed to comment on it as an issue they have with the format. It would be an equally valid criticism to say "I really like [youtuber's] arguments, but the visual flair is too over the top for me". Totally fine! A "valid criticism" isn't the same thing as a universal truth. It's just whether or not the point would be informative to someone who was interested in watching the video:

"Would I like this video?"

"Not if you expect high production values/like calm readings of material/don't want to have to do more than listen"

I think, with Somerton, the issue is that he was so consistently lazy. What did Somerton add to those articles that anyone else couldn't? Nothing. He provided nothing creative or original in the videos, his presentation, or anything. If your contribution to the material is, essentially, a text-to-voice reading, that's worthy of criticism. Other low-produciton-value Youtubers don't have this same issue because they're contributing something original to the work - their ideas/essays/etc. Somerton contributed nothing.

Like, at least with Internet Historian's video, as plagiarized as the words were, he (or his team) created an hour+ long animation with voice acting to accompany those words. If you plugged the article he plagiarized into a text to speech reader, you'd have a fundamentally different experience compared to the video. There's at least some editorial creativity in that video. Not enough to justify stealing someone else's work, but it's not just a verbatim reading of the article. Somerton just blankly reads into a camera.

And so, in that context of "well, if the words aren't his own, what else does he bring to the table?" and the criticism is "no production value, no interesting style, and an un-engaging, monotone voice" that's a totally valid critique. "What makes Somerton distinct from reading the article itself?" has no real answer. You know?

The next point you bring up, is, essentially Some people - for whatever reason it may be - do not have an innate ability to understand fashion/dressing nicely/etc. And by attacking Somerton for these things, it suggests to your friends/colleagues/peers/etc. that they, also, are required to dress nicely to be accepted.

And this is a valid point - again, if you're proud of your work and your audience enjoys it, then you don't need to match the "big leagues" in terms of production value.

But Somerton held himself out as one of the "Breadtube big leaguers". He actively and frequently compared himself to the likes of Contrapoints and Philosophy Tube in terms of the content he was making - getting upset on Twitter when they were invited to Nebula and he wasn't.

So it's not that "anyone making this much money is expected to invest in these things" but it's a matter of: If you present and advertise yourself as the same type of content as Philosophy Tube or ContraPoints or HBomberguy, it's fair for an audience to expect you to put in the same level of effort. And if you don't, then criticizing that is appropriate.

The difference between him and Shaun is Shaun doesn't hold himself out to be "like those other folks". Shaun doesn't go into a big twitter rant when other creators are more successful/have more subscribers/whatever. Shaun doesn't get upset when his videos don't do as well as those other creators. Somerton did. Somerton said "I"m just like these other successful youtubers, why am I not as famous?!" And so the answer of "Because you half-ass everything from your scripts to your wardrobe" is an appropriate answer to that question.

If we were friends in real life, and you dressed awkwardly, I wouldn't care. If we were friends in real life, and you dressed awkwardly and insisted that your videos deserved as much respect and prestige as the previously-mentioned creators, then I would probably sit you down and say "okay, if you want that, you need a set designer and a wardrobe and production value, just like those folks have."

That's the difference between critiquing Somerton and viewing people in real life. And it's an important distinction to be aware of.

Okay I've seen enough people starting to make fun of the way James Somerton dresses and that I think before this goes where it always goes we all need to take a step back and remember that making fun of someone's appearance is not acceptable, even when they're a shitty person.

He doesn't suck because he wears "unflattering" clothes or doesn't have engaging facial expressions, he sucks because he's a thief and a grifter who made almost $200k a year by screwing over his audience and queer creators/authors. There's plenty of things to criticize, his looks should not be on the table.

[whyamiheretumbled]

"I WAS JUST FUCKING READING A YANDERE NON-TCEST FIC WHERE LEOS BROTHERS GO CRAZY PROTECTING HIM AND JUST. RANDOMLY. THE AUTOUR DECIDED TO ATTACK ME PERSONALLY? "it's like you wanna marry him!" *the turtles start insisting that it's nasty and that they would NEVER feel that way about Leon* LIKE?? BITCH YOU MADE A YANDERE FIC WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE IS GONNA BE STFU- NO ONE ASKED JESUS FUCKING CHRIST ANTIS JUST GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO HARASS US WTF-"

Kay guys, let's say several things wrong with this post!

1.Somebody writing, on their own fan fiction/blog/etc how they don't like proshippers is NOT harrasing. Maybe it's being rude. But if they are not DIRECTLY ATTACKING YOU MUTIPLE TIMES it's NOT harrasment. Adding to this point:If that counts as harrasing, then their entire post is harrasment. Not to mention the author themselves apparently didn't say Tcest was gross explicitly, they had characters in the fic say it. Which while implying their own morals, was NOT a direct attack????

2.If we're talking about the fic I think we are, the fan fiction was already tagged as platonic???you knew what you were getting into? Yanderes can be platonic. I don't even know what to say to this other than not every relationship that's toxic in fan fiction is romantic, and saying it is shows more about YOU than any other anti author.

3."The author decided to attack me personally "The world doesn't revolve around you. Did they @ you specifically? Say your name and call you out? Make a post attacking you like YOU did? No? Oh. Well you didn't get personally attacked. Pipe down.

4."Nitch you made a yandere fan fiction on ao3 you cant-" Wrong. Okay, first of all, DNI=Dont INTERACT/Make it obvious you're interacting, and if you get blocked don't be surprised. You could have gone on your merry way and kept reading the fic and ignored it,or get this:dont like, don't read. ❤ proshippers seem to have a weird sense of entitlement that everything posted on the internet suddenly belongs to them:it doesn't. People can complain on the internet as much as you think you have the right to sexualize content. It's the fucking internet. It's a social fucking place. Boo fucking hoo get off ao3 if you can't stand somebody hating on proshippers...the site allows RACISM RANTS and you're complaing about this. Please. Also, that's funny you mentioned target audiences. Do you think antis should harras proshippers for being in fandoms like TMNT then? It's for kids, right? It shouldn't have any sexual content? Or does this not count anymore????

[bahca-promotion-bahca]

Evaluation 1

In this module, I hope to promote myself using varied methods. I plan on doing this following research I have undertaken in promoting yourself both in person and online. I have done this already by having an active artist Instagram, where I hope my work reaches its desired audience, through using relative hashtags to push engagement with the people who want to see this kind of post. I also include vague hashtags, that still relate to the work, to again push my posts to maybe more unsuspecting users.

I have also been making business cards and posters to delve into a more in-person approach. Physically having a business card in your pocket or wallet, I find may be a more effective way to have a member of the public engage with your work, rather than being lost in their online algorithm. The business cards themselves resembling small works of art, make the public more likely to engage, either by taking a card or even having a conversation about the cards themselves. Causing a more personal interaction and an imprinted memory of that moment. As my work is participatory-based a lot of the time, I feel this is a connection that is important to the advertisement of my work.

Posters can be an eye-catching way to interact with the public, either reliant on placement or the sheer plastering of information to get your name out there and allow the public to engage with your work on a daily basis.

Canva is a marvellous way to create quick, clean and eye-catching posters and business cards, even on the free version. This has allowed me to create marketing materials without having to spend too much on overheads.

Having a personal marketing plan will in turn push towards achieving goals, whether in engagement online or in person. Promotion can include networking with other creatives and being active in creative spaces and events. This will put a face to the name essentially and create that personal interaction with other artists, clients or investors who are already active in these spaces.

Collaborating with other artists is also another way to promote yourself, having work created by a group means that more people and platforms are promoting what you're working on and generally leads to more engagement from different audiences, allowing the work or advertisement for the work to be seen by more people.

Having a strong brand image or identity creates space for engagement with your target audience if a brand doesn't have appeal then the audience is less inclined to engage.

My focus for after the academic year is to be this proactive artist in these spaces, I have chosen to wait on going ahead with a more face-to-face approach till I have more time. I feel this is the most professional thing I can do at the minute as I want to fully embrace this experience and allow for networking to happen and I can't do that if I don't have the time to dedicate to creating these connections.

[alternamarian]

So, I watched it.

I didn't want to, but considering the posts that I've since reblogged about it, I decided that I would, in fellowship with those involved in these threads. I don't know if anyone will like what I write, but this is offered with gratitude and commiseration.

(This shouldn't be a surprise, but I discuss spoilers below.)

And of course, just because we may be similar-minded, doesn't mean we or our thoughts are interchangeable. We are persons, not assembly-line products.

For, though I too am Barbie-critical (is that a genre now?!!) I differ in at least two aspects. One, I don't think this movie could have been fun. It may have been less uninteresting, if it was written as actual froth instead of Making A Point But Not Really™, but I doubt I would describe even a hypothetical best-version as 'fun'.

It also doesn't drive me super mad.

I think I may have formed my overall view of the film during the prologue. As I listened to the voice-over and watched the events unfold, I thought, oh, this is n o t a story to be taken seriously. It didn't engage me as it may have been expected to.

The life in plastic isn't fantastic at all.

It may be because of the voice-over.

Without it, I may have just reiterated the 'wanting to have the cake and eat it' criticism others have made. But that voice-over, and the wry-commentary vibe, to me seems like an added measure of self-protection, an extra layer of plausible deniability for when the film goes particularly inconsistent and egregiously contradicts in-story rules.

I call it 'intentional dishonesty'.

Now certainly I have plenty of vehement feelings about dishonesty, while also opposing it in principle. But the way the film is presented, and the tokens used in the presenting of it is just ... really meh ...?

And yes I'm pretty sure I'm also just not the target audience for this; unlike, say, Sucker Punch. That's a movie which I found tedious, but which I'm also still angry about. I do think it's one of the few films in which I'm part of the target audience, as a woman with no real-life prospects but also with no lack of horror fantasy daydreams. (Do I ever think about dying? LOL) I also emphatically object to being Represented™ by that movie which is actually the filmmaker indulging his own fantasy

But with Barbie, even with all the power-conquest undertones and mid-tones and overtones, and all the really harmful stereotypes that it shakes the pink pom-poms for, I just can't seem to feel all that much. Maybe if it left off the duplicitous serious-but-it's-a-joke-unless-maybe-sorta handwaving, then maybe I would have dealt with it less unseriously.

One scene in which I had something like a visceral response was when Weird Barbie starts talking about continuums, and I was like, ergh, here comes the sci-fi-ish babble. It's rather similar to how I feel when Christopher Nolan movies try to be Really Science-y™. (Weird Barbie, by the way, is Kate McKinnon making faces and doing poses. That, according to this Hollywood studio-funded capitalist film, is what makes the character 'weird'.)

I also may have frowned a bit when Allan started punching Kens. Like is that how he proves he's not so disposable? By tHroWinG HAnDs, by going all macho action-figure on other characters? But then his efforts don't mean much in the overall story, so again, what's the point?

The one scene that almost caused me pain was when Ken sings to Barbie. Yes, according to the film he's singing at Barbie. But he is indeed trying to establish an emotional connection, which is exploited as a tactical advantage in the not-so-covert attack on the Kenarchy. But he's Ken, and he's finally getting his comeuppance, so take that, Ken!!!1!!1!!!!1! Take that, all men!!!1!!1!!!!1! Take that, evil patriarchyyy!!!1!!1!!!!1! Anyway this is just a campy movie based on toys, with no subtext at all to be read and analyzed, and certainly not by an ugly non-Western woman who sYmpAtHiZes sOOO veRY eAsiLY, amirite?

If I'm supposed to feel sorry for the Kens, as I'm supposed to relate to the Barbies and the human women — well, I do not.

I think I responded more emotionally to the video commenter dudes whose watch-along I watched along with. They were so miNdbLoWN™ by the movie, with one of them comparing the visuals to a Wes Anderson film (which I also don't vibe with). Yeah I may have cringed quite a bit.

And now perhaps I should end this with the ending of the film.

The preference for Ambiguous Endings™ is quite on display here: as the film moves towards a chronological close, a certain character mentions something about Barbie (the doll) not having an ending. Then, later, in the Real World™, she goes into a building, where apparently she has an appointment. Barbie the doll then announces excitedly that she's going to see her gynecologist, before the movie abruptly cuts.

If I haven't made this clear yet, let me reiterate: I know the movie is meant to be a silly popcorn flick. I know that the ending is just as part of the overall not-seriousness as the prologue.

...

...

... unless ...

Barbie's story is ultimately about

[nickfurysrighteye]

THIS!!! I'll never shut up about this!! chase is constantly picked on because he's "weak" but it doesn't make sense, hear me out:

1. in the third episode chase fights trent and even though it was technically spike that did it, trent and the other bullies didn't know that, so if i were them and some kid in the cafeteria just beat my ass i wouldn't mess with them

2. same thing goes for the talent show episode, you see a kid go absolutely berserk your first instinct shouldn't be "yeah let's bully him constantly"

3. excluding the commando app, we know chase is very skilled in martial arts and hand to hand combat. before he got the laser bō everytime there was a fight he was the only one fighting without actually using his bionics. also the use of a bō in combat comes from the japanese martial art bōjutsu and it takes a lot of practice to learn how to fight with it properly, therefore we circle back to the fact chase's actually very skilled and would know how to use it despite his bionic ability.

4. speaking of bionic abilities, i've made a post in the past talking about how chase's molecular kenises would've made him A LOT stronger than the other characters on the show (lab rats and elite force) if the writers cared or if it were a show targeted to an older audience.

5. another thing that doesn't make sense to me is that other characters (often adam) joke about chase not being good at sports. despite not having canon proof whether this is true or not, adam bree and chase train every day or almost every day to prepare for missions, it would only make sense that a person who trains every day to go on life threatening missions would have the physical ability required to catch a ball in P.E . idk maybe it's just me who thinks it 🤷🏻‍♀️

6. and lastly there's the fact (like the original post said) that in s3/s4 chase is super jacked but i think that is mostly because of billy and the fact he was in his 20's when filming and i mean you can't have the body of a 16 years old forever.

thank you for listening to my ted talk, goodbye.

Why'd they try to convince us that Chase is weak when it's canon that without their bionics he's as strong as Adam