parachutingkitten

[parachutingkitten]

Everyday my brain is haunted by Raincloudshipping and it’s ALL YOUR FAULT /pos

I'm sorry! I am infected myself, I can not help but spread the virus!!!!😭😭😭

I tend to listen to this song on repeat to bask in the vibes, hope this helps...

[parachutingkitten]

While I was watching Diary of an Apothecary, I ended up remembering the conversation between Lloyd and Akita that you wrote in which he tries to explain to her why being the green ninja is important.

And I thought it would be really funny if Akita was colorblind and that's would be why she couldn't understand the importance of the color he wears.

oh my gosh that would just make it so much funnier.

"what do you mean the green ninja is a special you thing? There's clearly two of you!"

[parachutingkitten]

y'all already know I agree with this. I crave having those solid ensemble dynamics back.

And it's not like huge ensembles are impossible to pull off necessarily. It's certainly difficult, but it's doable. Problem is that you usually want to break the team up after you've established the whole. When you introduce a new character, having them among at least a large majority of the cast early on is really great for forming a baseline to build on later, in those smaller more specific groups. But they have this habit of introducing characters to a fraction of the cast while split up, and then trying to mush them into the full team later, which really makes things difficult. And the problem just gets worse the larger the cast size gets. They haven't figured out how to juggle what they have, but they just keep adding more. Why are we (re)introducing additional characters when we literally have nothing for them to do?

I think on the one hand they do a good job selling that the new ninja are like actual teens, but what I feel like they struggle with is making them feel like an actual Team. I could never visualize Frak, Arin, Sora, Wyldfyre, and Riyu collectively charging into battle shouting their own "Ninjaaa-GOOOOOO!"

I think part of this is because DR has such a ridiculously stacked cast, that we rarely if ever have any time to see them as an actual group. We only have Wyldfyre and Frak together in two scenes so far, when Frak lands on her jet thingy, and when everyone hugs Lloyd.

I also think they're too deadset on making Arin and Sora the dynamic duo of the team that they just don't write the others as part of the team. Like when Wyldfyre saves everyone in the part 1 finale, she seems unfazed to see Arin there. She barely cares that he's back, she just says "I thought you peaced out" and that's it. I know Wyldfyre specifically struggles to be a team player but three seasons in, I'd certainly expect a much stronger dynamic between the team than what they have right now.

[parachutingkitten]

I just finished watching through your misogyny video for the second time, (for help writing my Ninjago fic, since even as a female I know I can sometimes include hurtful stereotypes because of how ingrained they are into culture) and I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it and respect the amount of work you put into it. Your line, "Women with power are monsters" gives me instant chills every time!

Thanks! It was certainly a large undertaking. I have a hard time rewatching just because I seem so much younger to myself in that video, but hey! it's good to know people are still getting something out of it! The monsters line especially. I've gotten a lot of flack for that one for some reason but hey. what are you gonna do.

[parachutingkitten]

genuinely hope you are doing okay, sending you virtual hugs

even if i don’t agree with some of your takes i still honestly enjoy your content from your writing to your analysis so I hope you get better soon

thanks. we'll make it through.

[parachutingkitten]

Hey PK! Hope you're doing fine. I think the whole situation was blown out of proportion by both bsky and twt. Yes, there were some twt users (like 10%-20%) hating on you, and that is not okay- they are inconsiderate asshole losers. However, from what I could see, a lot of people were mainly making fun of the hashtag because of the fact the words "go on" condensed into "goon" on twt 😭 it's stupid but funny lol. Yes, there were some people critiquing your take, but if they were they were acknowledging that they love your takes and find you an amazing person. And they weren't trying to be rude in that matter. The people bsky just saw like the few people that got mad at you and they decided to then blame the entire twt fandom which then got heated there. Anyways all in all from what I can tell the situation has resolved. You are an amazing person, and thank you for having patience. I promise for the most part, everyone respects you. Have a nice day or night :)

yes, i get it's mostly goon folks, which is so horrifically stupid, but whatever.

And yes, there is a subsect of twitter that hates me just cuz, and I get that everyone thinks they're too much.

But I am also bothered by the people who are trying to critique me, even in good faith, mainly because I just genuinely do not understand what the critique is, so it's personally confusing. I thought new nya would act differently than old nya. I thought jay asking for a hug was kinda out of pocket. That's it. And all the critiques i've seen are about how I'm comparing old characters to new ones to disregard their development or something? Like Jay is still currently a bad person because of this incident? Everyone's claiming I fundamentally misunderstand the characters in this post, and I genuinely do not know what they're getting at, or why it would be worthy of frustration. It seems to me that the only way to come to these conclusions from the post is to take it with some level of de-facto bad faith. Like I do not understand what the criticism is, and even if they are in good faith, that doesn't stop this wonky criticism from being weaponized by the idiots who have already decided they hate me, and comment bombing my channel with stuff so bad it's caught in yts harassment filter. It feeds the problem.

Also, a lot of the people actually doing the harassment think that because they also have a criticism of my take, that they don't fall into the harassment bucket- but they do. Some of the WORST offenders are the ones standing out here saying they just don't like my take, it's not about PK personally! So when people come out and say "critique is fine, but don't harass her" which is objectively a fine take, it doesn't do anything to actually help the problem because no one thinks they're the ones who are being a dick. A lot of the people claiming to just put out "good faith criticism" are the ones being a problem. Not everyone- I want to make clear that I've seen people clearly just here for critique and distancing themselves from mindless hate (even if I still don't understand their critique), but there are a lot who are using the "good faith criticism" loophole to justify their hate and harassment.

And the only way to get them to reconsider is to force everyone to reconsider what exactly their contributions to the hate are. Even if it is just using the funny hashtag cuz it's funny- because it's the same thing. Even that is a shield the idiots are using to justify their harassment. They can point to the meme and say "oh it's not about PK personally, it's just a meme!" all the while also using it as an excuse to personally insult me, because if it's as a meme it's okay. It is a banner which they have taken to heart in order to hide behind. I'm not saying stop the goon or necessarily, but idk. maybe sit down and consider what you get out of memeing something that's going to be twisted into a shield for harassment by others. Even if it is just 10-20% of the fandom. Because that's still a lot of people. And they're making a heck of a big stir.

I appreciate everyone who's come to my defense. I appreciate the well wishes. And I do know that the idiots are a small minority. I'm glad to have most of you around- especially all y'all here on tumblr.

anyway, I'd really prefer just to be done with this. make it stop.

[parachutingkitten]

Just because I feel it would be a good time to restate it:

I like Jay just fine most of the time. He was one of my favorites back in season 1-2. Fluffy hair Jay is great if not a little dull at times. I just think the skybound arc designed to get rid of Jay's awful weird behaviors which were purposely inserted starting in season 3, didn't do the best job of actually showing a dedication to a change in behavior in said season, and so leave me with some unsatisfied weird vibes. The show did him dirty by purposefully giving him awful qualities, and then not having a REALLY solid plan for him to grow past them. If you have an easier time meeting the season at its intentions, and accepting his growth at his word, that's fine, I have no qualms with you, enjoy your character. But please forgive me if I have a bit of a mental block about him until the character redesign helps quell my underlying icky vibes. As someone who has first hand experience with men who say they've changed, only to later prove they have not at all changed... I just needed a little bit more out of skybound to personally get over that hump.

[parachutingkitten]

They're making fun of you on Twitter when I thought it was obvious your post was supposed to be a joke on how jay acted in the earlier seasons and the pilot would realistically not be reciprocated because alot of it was not an appropriate way to act lol

Okay, I hate that I have to do research to be informed on a large debate I am apparently at the center of, but I have wasted some time and I think figured it out. I guess twitter found this post of mine which is just me observing that Jay expecting a hug from Nya in the pilots is obviously poor writing, and had modern girl boss nya been presented this scenario, obviously it would have gone a little differently. Literally a random little shower thought. A funny little thought experiment. A point I somehow missed in the mega video, obviously exaggerated for comedic effect, with a little PSA at the end explaining to please not replicate this behavior irl cuz it is very weird.

And some people are memeing because of the tag, and their immature sense of humor, which is fine. Most of the fandom are still children. Like, I'm down to have inadvertently created a 'alive but gay' style meme. Really wish this wasn't what it was, but whatever.

But then there are people out here who (first, very clearly do not understand tumblr's culture at all, but also) take the post completely seriously, as if that was my attempt at a serious in depth reading of the characters, or that I actually want Jay dead? Even though I don't say that in the post, I'm joking that Nya would've 'killed' him in this theoretical joke scenario. And people take this to mean I'm unfairly criticizing Jay as being an awful human who deserves to die and/or kill himself? Which I don't really know where they're getting this from. The only claims made in the post are that 1. New nya would have reacted differently in this scenerio and 2. Jay's behavior would be kinda sus in real life. That's it. That's the only analysis or understanding of these characters which this post offers. And I don't even think anyone disagrees with me on these points. They seem to view it as Jay bashing, like I'm calling him irredeemable or something, and hate him because of it, and jay fans by proxy.

Which, for the record.... no. Not what at all what that was. Jay certainly isn't my favorite character, and I like him the least when he's doing mysoginistic crap, I'm fine with being labeled a Jay hater for that opinion if that's your bar. But I absolutely don't hold it against anyone if they do like Jay, and I would very much like to see him exist in the show going forward? He's my least favorite ninja and the one with the clearest in show canon misogynistic behavior, because they tried to have an arc about it. As the fandom's resident speaker on the treatment of women in the show, I take some jabs at him sometimes. Is that too much for you guys? Am I not allowed to joke that Jay's old mysoginistic behavior WAS mysoginistic?

I swear I can't breath around this fandom sometimes. Everything I say somehow becomes a historically awful, clearly bad faith personal attack which somehow becomes a twitter moment despite me not even being on twitter. There is a reason I'm not on that platform. It would be really great if people stopped dragging me onto it every couple of months.

In case anyone was wondering, I am a human person, I am able to see public comments about me if I so wish, and every time something like this happens my mental health does take a hit, because dozens of people coming together to say they hate you does generally have a negative effect on the human brain, even if I intellectually know it's all just dumb internet drama.

I don't know how to express to this fandom that I mean no ill will, and would be genuinely down for a good faith and in depth discussion on character arcs and plot progressions on these topics if you have disagreements with my interpretations, even if no one comes out with their minds changed, because media analysis is a genuinely fun and enlightening pastime to me, and I always would love the chance to sharpen my toolbelt, and listen to new ideas. But stuff like this sucks the wind out of the sails of all of any appeal a potential discussion might have had. Not that this post necessarily should have even sparked that discussion, because again, it was a hypothetical shower thought about the character growth exhibited by these characters.

It's a fun children's show. Can we maybe chill out like just a little bit?

[parachutingkitten]

It's tough because on a surface level, in show, it's a pretty heteronormative relationship built on not much more than "we pair them up because boy robot must like girl robot!" But if you care to extrapolate at all on what the show gives us, and especially within the fandom space, it's absolutely super queer coded.

They are ace. That's what the queer coding is. It kicks against hetero norm in some interesting ways because of it. I would write a whole essay, but instead I'll just link the essay i already wrote on the topic:

Happy pride month; have my musings-

So I’m thinking about it and I want OPINIONSSSS, but… do you reckon Pixane is inherently heteronormative or inherently queer-coded?

Because on the one hand, setting it up so that it’s a robot x robot pairing, as well as the whole ‘compatible’ thing feels like a statement about the pairing having to be ‘made for each other’ in a way that seems ‘natural’ (pardon my wording, this is a bit hard to articulate) which is a very heteronormative idea. The robot’s love interest has to be a robot otherwise we’re stepping into unconventional territory that some may consider ‘weird’ or ‘not right’. (Which is nullified by the presence of human x non-human relationships elsewhere in the franchise and the fact that these robots are sentient and should be treated as their human counterparts). It seems very ‘singular mindset’ to me? Like that’s just the way you’re SUPPOSED to do it.

On the other hand, you could say that there’s this alienation of these two characters from their counterparts (because they are robots; they aren’t just ‘not human’ but they’re also not flesh, ‘inorganic’ if you will) and the fact that they’re robots also plays into the ‘validity of feelings’ or ‘not real love’ idea that others might push on them in-universe; and Pixane is just these two characters who have been shunned and rejected by society finding union in something that defies social standard and something that they both experience. Which to me is a very queer experience. Also, I feel like the whole ‘sharing a heart’ thing can play into the idea that love isn’t about what’s on the surface or how people see you, it’s about something deeper than that, which cannot be changed by societal opinion. Again, another inherently queer experience to me.

[parachutingkitten]

Monstrosity was really good and all but like... no Pixal included in the magical vision taunting Kai to drown himself?

...I'm going to have to deduct points

[parachutingkitten]

Monstrosity certainly had it's vibe locked down. I think that was the main thing guiding the whole project, was just the very clear vibes. It had an aura in mind, and it nailed it completely. It is a visual masterpiece.

That being said... man does the story suffer big time from this being 15 minutes.

[parachutingkitten]

I will never understand the mindset of someone who comments on a youtube video before finishing it. Ever. What will of iron do you have that the fear of missing important context from later in the video doesn't haunt you while typing up your opinion before you've even fully engaged with the subject in question? The ego to think your opinion is so very important and pure that you don't even need to finish a piece of media to have a fully fledged analysis which everyone else will agree with is... baffling. As someone who constantly fears that I'm missing important information every time I make an assertion about anything, I will never understand...

[parachutingkitten]

Hello, Give Pixal Pajamas, I know you absolutely hate Jay, but I am interested to hear your opinion on which season he is the best in. (If you absolutely hate him every season a "no" is fine 🤣🤣🤣)

Look, I'm not opposed to being labeled a Jay hater. That's probably accurate, but I would like to go on the record that it is specifically Skybound Jay I hate. Whenever his weird manipulative, possessive, self important qualities flair up, I absolutely despise him. But he isn't like this all the time. When he's a side character with stupid fun quips and a nerd mindset he's great- and that is a large portion of the show. Most of the first two seasons are pretty good- I might consider that his peak, mainly because he is untainted by the idiocy that is season 3. The oni trilogy utilizes him in a likeable way. And I know everyone hates season 11, but I think he serves his role well there also.

I've also gotten pretty soured on Jaya in general- at least post season 3 Jaya. So anything involving that is pretty off the table for me. Just in general, the longer I live, and the more weird encounters with men I have/close friends go through, the less patience I have for a character who goes through a large portion of the show convinced he deserves the girl at all costs, with the narrative never forcing him to grow past that impulse.

[parachutingkitten]

Scenario! Netflix has come to you and begged at your knees to make the new Ninjago reboot (no soft reboot, everything redone). How would you do it?

Gosh, idk. If it's a ninjago rewrite scenerio, I'd have to do like a full deep dive on the series to root out how to make it flow better, which perhaps I'll do one day, but certainly not now.

But, if it's a reimagining sort of thing, I think I'd set it just ridiculously far in the future of the timeline. Give the landscape and our character set a nice reset, follow a new team trying to figure out their powers, and maybe part of the plot is learning about the ninja of legend (from the original series) and what happened to them. If you want to include the old cast, maybe you could have a dual narrative interwoven between the past and the present showing the thematic parallels between the end of the old team and the beginning of the new one. Solidarity across time and generations. Idk. Something along those lines I think would be really cool. Big fan of stories about how this has all happened before, and will happen again. We are a part of something bigger than ourselves. You know.

[parachutingkitten]

don't mind me, just mourning a casual friendship that slipped through my fingers ages ago at this point...

[parachutingkitten]

Everyone's fine with reversing time to override reality when it's for love, but when I try it suddenly I'm 'the evil guy trying to destroy everything'

[parachutingkitten]

Can confirm, absolutely top tier Pixal episode, honestly better than even like Kaiju Protocol. One of the only examples of her Sam X getting control of a plot in an organic way. Absolutely love this one.

"Ninjago Confidential" is a lot of fun and gets plenty of deserved praise. (If you're not planning on doing a follow up to the Ice Emperor storyline from last season, executing a nice pastiche of noir detective stories works just as well).

That being said, I think that the subsequent episode, "The Prodigal Father," is often overlooked because of how much fun the previous episode is. Granted, the opening scene turns Wu into a joke (he fell for a cardboard cutout of Zane? really?) but the core of the episode between PIXAL and Milton Dyer is really solid. We finally learn the full story of what happened with Prime Empire, why Unagami is who he is, and PIXAL forces Dyer to reexamine his beliefs on artificial life. Their dialogue is really great and is absolutely necessary for the finale. In fact basically everything here is more important for the themes of the season than anything in the game Prime Empire post-Terra Karana. PIXAL is so frustrated with Dyer yet her existence and emotions alone are enough for Dyer to start to understand Unagami. I love the music in the final scene as the Mechanic activates the Manifestation Gate.

There's also this: