#the mainstream corner

[avoidthings]

Imagine watching 2+ hours of a Black ass film that venerates the history and innovation of Black Americans in Reconstruction (correction) under Jim Crow in Mississippi then thinking, “Yes, let me write and edit extensively (and damn near exclusively) for the white male antagonist.”

Couldn’t be me!

[helenvaughans]

well, at least now we know how conservatives are probably going to start coping with the "trump is in the epstein files" situation....................................................................................................................................

[natjennie]

I'm actually so autistically attached to drawfee, getting rid of the intro might make me have a breakdown right now. does horse divorce mean nothing to you.

[crustaceousfaggot]

Hey did anyone else notice like a weird amount of parallels between the Arcane ending and the RQG ending or was that just me

Takes place in a magi-tech society that blends elements of sci-fi and high fantasy with elements of British industrial revolution aesthetics. The bulk of the story takes place in a city which is divided in two - a wealthy and entrepreneurial upper city, and a poor and dangerous undercity ruled by organized crime.

One of our protagonists is an emotionally volatile young woman, raised in the lower city by a powerful crime lord who acts as her surrogate father. She believes that her only worth to the world is her talent for violence, and over the course of the story learns to trust again and care for (an) adopted kid(s). This character has a natural talent for engineering and makes her own bombs.

Another of our protagonists is a nepo-baby from a powerful family who eventually learns that they're a sorcerer with a hidden magical bloodline. This bloodline manifests, among other ways, with their skin becoming more metallic. As this is happening, the character decides to step away from their family legacy and inherited power to become their own person.

The catalyst for the plot is a brilliant scientist pioneering a new kind of magi-tech which he believes will revolutionize humanity and make life better for everyone.

Through a bizarre series of unintended dominoes, this magi-tech (which just so happens to be blue) entirely loses control, leading to the creation of a spreading gestalt hivemind which threatens to overtake the entire world.

Quick break from this to watch a couple of our characters get thrown into another dimension. They'll be fine don't worry (lying)

The final battle involves a very large cast of characters doing cool shit but essentially revolves around "we need to kill the center of the hive mind". Part of this involves taking down a Big Powerful Beast that got infected.

Despite this, the conflict isn't resolved just through combat, but through a scene where a character gets sucked into the Hive Mind Dimension and has a conversation with the entity controlling it. The entity genuinely believes that what it is doing is for the betterment of humanity, and has to be convinced that human weaknesses and differences are something to be embraced rather than eliminated.

Also idk the parallels between the "we'll finish this together" moment and the "we've got this" moment.

From a thematic perspective, a lot of the really interesting stuff set up early on about societal inequality, corrupt but well-meant leadership, and growing tensions between the upper and lower cities gets kiiinda overshadowed in the end by the whole "we all need to band together to deal with this goddamn hivemind" thing, and (in my opinion) doesn't get an especially satisfying conclusion in either case.

Smaller stuff

Amputees with magi-tech prosthetics

Magic Twink that dies and gets revived multiple times (at least once by his partner) and ends up with cool white hair.

"What If We Had A Gay Love Confession In Your Post-Death Mind Palace"

Kooky old mad scientist side character who actually ends up being pretty plot relevant and having some surprisingly solid emotional beats.

Moral debate over whether or not it's worth it to shut down the Very Sketchy Dangerous Machine that also supports a huge chunk of this world's economy and infrastructure.

Various orbs

Evil (?) magic flower

Post-canon lesbian domestic bliss!!!

"It's fun when a Lawful Good character edges over the line into full-blown fascism"

Zolf is Vi but I can't explain that one. It just is

Rqg still wins because Arcane doesn't have Mr Ceiling or Bertie MacGuffingham. And frankly I'm disappointed by the lack of blokes

[joogios]

Mainstream Aot fans being genuinely incapable of comprehending the fact that several people can be important to you at the same time and that feelings aren’t a cold, calculating logical one way/two way thing and that both these women have major factors in Eren’s life and vice versa him for them

[saxandviolins77]

is transformers well-known in Brazil?

Well, it depends on what you mean when you say "well-known."

I'd personally say it is!

Because of the Bay movies, everyone knows what an "Optimus Prime" and a "Bumblebee" are (mostly people born in the 2000s.) It is also pretty common to refer to advanced machines as "Transformers."

The G1 cartoon also received an amazing dub. I say amazing because Brazilian dubs are just THAT good. They got all the voices spot-on; even Jose Santana's Starscream is an excellent interpretation of Chris Latta's high-pitched voice he used for him. The G1 comics were also brought here and translated, as were the Dreamwave comics. (this reminds me I ought to seek the Brazilian Portuguese version of issue #10 of Marvel Transformers 😮‍💨.)

In terms of toys... Eh, we had a bunch of Minibot repaints by Estrela in the 80s, we got the movie toys, and today barely any shit hits the stores. We still haven't got the Legacy United line, but Studio Series toys get imported regularly (that little Bumblebee isn't worth R$200 nuh-uh.) Second-hand collecting is pretty great tho! It's not as extensive as, yk, eBay, but it's also not as expensive.

In terms of fandom, yeah, we're pretty healthy. It is a bunch of dudebros who are more interested in big robot fights, but hey, sometimes you have to do with what you have. I'd say it's not as big as the Pokémon fandom we have here, but it's pretty sizable. We also have Cybercon SP, a fan-organized convention that has been happening since 2018.

[idiosyncraticrednebula]

I'm annoyed at how there's little merch and content of the non-Disney Princess, non-anthrophomorphic teenage/adult heroines.....

[merp-blerp]

Dorothy and the Prince of Oz: *is intentionally an original Oz story separate from the canonical books, '39 film, et cetera, told beautifully through the art of ballet* Me: Neat! Also me, in the back of my mind: You know there's a certain Princess of Oz you could have Dorothy fall in love with... no need to create a new character... Ozma is all invented, public domain, and available for ya already...

[ohdorothea]

anyway I love you gay swifties in my phone!!!!!!!!!!

[animentality]

Niche sub fandoms are the best.

I don't have to deal with the stupidity of the general populace.

I get to obsess about problematic people and ships in peace. I can be as insane as I want and no one bitches at me for it and cancels me on Twitter.

This is how life is meant to be.

[chinzhilla]

✨ when you get this you have to reply with share however you want five of your favorite songs then tag your mutuals to do the same ✨

tagged by @vegasandhishedgehog - thanks maddi! 🩷 making my own post cause the spotify thumbnails are so big and i don't want ppl to have to scroll past too many skdjfhk. everyone should go check out the original post though cause maddi and jamie both have Taste (i do listen to all the songs when i'm tagged in these posts btw)

tagging @sollucets @khaotunq @pondsphuwin @firstkanaphans and @krystaljungs if y'all wanna 💟

[avengersnewb]

I don’t even know, I dislike people projecting their own issues onto characters with minimal base, but I also love it.

Balance who.

[seventh-district]

this song ain’t got no right to be scratchin’ my brain as much as it does

[welcometogrouchland]

I've decided I need to post at least some of my DC art backlog or I may actually explode and die

[luulapants]

I'm so frustrated by the lack of response to the mass psychogenic illness of law enforcement officials claiming to suffer contact fentanyl poisoning. There were a few studies done that quietly concluded that it's not real, none of the cases were credible, and the symptoms most closely resemble a panic attack or somatic episode.

No one is connecting this to systemic issues in police training and culture and no one is treating this as the canary in the coal mine it is.

Modern police training is functionally cult indoctrination, and intentionally cultivates paranoia. Police learn that everyone is out to get them, danger lurks around every corner, and their only job is to make it home alive after their shift.

They then enter the body of police culture, where questioning the bad behavior of fellow officers is at best strictly socially punished and at worst can get them killed, where they are constantly vigilant to say the right things and portray the right beliefs.

Suddenly, after generations of mainstream culture being generally supportive of police, in the midst of an anxiety-riddled pandemic, there is a highly-publicized backlash against law enforcement. Regular people are saying ACAB, calling cops fascists and murderers and wife-beaters. They're posting officers' service records on social media. Police, unwilling to believe they are evil, experience a cognitive dissonance backlash effect and cling to beliefs that contradict reality.

No one should be shocked - and no one should be hesitant to say - that there is a mental health crisis in law enforcement. They are paranoid, hyper-vigilant, and mired in cognitive dissonance. They have guns and virtually unchecked power to enact violence in their communities. Making up delusional stories about fentanyl is a pretty mild outcome compared to what we should be expecting from these circumstances.

Police aren't just bastards. They're a danger to themselves and others.

[teh-nos]

this week-old thorki fic is my top oneshot of the year now