#i was literally negative for everything

[nobodybetterlookatme]

How many times has your boyfriend got you sick? If we're allowed to ask?

Just the one time lmao and honestly it was a weird situation so it's like 50/50 if he actually got me sick or if my body just got fucked up somehow for no reason ahdjakska

[wackywatchdotcom]

imo jax has no clue that hes miserable. like hes putting on a face for sure but i dont think he actually has the emotional awareness to know WHY hes doing that. he just wants to look cool and masculine and thats as far as he thinks on it. theres more to it but he doesnt know that. being sad isnt cool so he wouldnt even entertain the idea that hes secretly sad

[justmossyall]

i’m starting to think some of yall don’t actually like the series

[writingjourney]

Good to know that the immediate reaction of people seeing that Copia might be wearing shoes or clothes with velcro is to be ableist as fuck.

[lapdogchase]

i think i have depression :(

[maculategiraffe]

we have been rewatching some of the earlier mcu movies (the watchable ones. we are not revisiting thor) and it has come to my attention that there were like four different versions of thanos in the post credits teaser scenes before he actually arrives on scene and each one is SIGNIFICANTLY stupider looking than the last. which is really saying something because the first one already looked real stupid

and yet it looks orders of magnitude less stupid than he actually looked when he showed up in a movie

[transgenderarson]

Super super fucking niche but like. When Dream said "I'm not gay" I see some people saying "well him not being gay doesnt mean he isnt queer" and i think you are interpreting this too literally. dream just posted a meme with a slur bc he thought he could "reclaim" it for having autism. I don't think hes thinking that hard about his language and what it means. When he says he's not gay hes not saying he has a different queer identity hes saying hes not queer.

[fayewoodss]

unfortunately their con merch seems to usually be a bit disappointing so I don't think you're alone in that! there's a reason the critique is usually "bad designs". if you want to talk about it I think people will know you're coming at it from a place of wanting it to be better

(besides, we know the dream branding payoff is that it's great quality, so ultimately I'm okay with it being mostly bad designs)

I've mostly seen con talk on twitter where the discussions is OVERWHELMINGLY positive about the art and design. Now that I know the artist is Lauren, their head designer, I do feel more comfortable critiquing it because my first thought was they commissioned a kid/teen to do the art and I wouldn't feel comfortable giving them a critique.

Lauren is a great graphic designer and we see that in the regular DT merch but also the con merch. The layout of the panels in the comic, the use of text, overall composition are great for both the poster and the shirt. There are a few things design wise that show a lack of understanding for comic creation, but I'll give her a pass there because she isn't a comic designer and not within the industry of comics, so most of her design mistakes or misplacements are rookie mistakes and don't detract from the overall compositions. I think it's worth noting, but again, not the main point of my critique.

The main problem is the art.

Now, regardless of skill and technique, art is important and anyone and everyone should be allowed to create and share. But when you are creating art as a professional, critique is a requirement of the job and necessary to being an artist. The internet and how it approaches art culture is very anti-critique because they see critique as inherently negative criticism, not constructive feedback. So, when I saw the overwhelmingly positive response, I felt like sharing my opinion would immediately be shot down or misinterpreted. But I am a professional artist. I went to school for art. I am still very active in both the online and irl art communities and even have my work currently showing in a gallery, where I recently received praise and critique for. My opinion and my critique are not the end all be all and everyone is allowed to come to their own conclusions, but I very heavily preface with this because I need people to know I am coming from a place of good faith and genuine knowledge in the subject matter.

So, when I look at the actual art for the merch, my first thought is, "they should've hired an artist and not a designer." The main problem is that the art shows a lack of skill and understanding for illustration. The figures are awkward and stiff. The faces are asymmetrical and fail to properly convey likeness to the Dream Team. The linework and shading is sloppy and rushed. The biggest detractor to me with all of this is that everything appears to be heavily traced.

Now, people get up and arms about tracing. Tracing is a tool. It is by no means a bad tool or "cheating," and it is and will always be very important to art and illustration, but there is a difference in using tracing as a reference versus using it as a crutch. The merch art uses it as a crutch and this is obvious because of all the reasons I stated before: the figures are stiff and the movement is not gestural, the linework is sloppy and focuses more on getting in certain details rather than following lines that would be natural to the poses and the light source, and specific clothing items like Dream's harness and cape and Sapnap's shoes seem slapped on top of the figures without a reference and knowledge of perspective and construction. Another big arrow pointing to tracing is how the bodies and heads do not match up with the posing as the heads and bodies were clearly traced separately and then added together later. Note the lack of necks and, again, misunderstanding perspective and movement.

I think to best catch how this is traced without thought or editing is to look at the faces and the hands and see how the lines don't make sense for naturally capturing a figure.

I also think the shading and coloring are very poorly done and outright sloppy. The shading has a graphite texture to it which in the world of comics is just not a common texture. Comics were traditionally ink and traditional shading is very heavily graphic and focused on hard black shadows. For the merch art, this sorely sticks out more as it's right next to graphic linework and solid spots of color that were likely added via paint bucket tool. It breaks up harmony in the piece and instead of having the intended effect of drama, it's messy. On top of that, there are a lot of points where the color of the shading leaves the linework in a way that is clearly unintentional and does not add to the pose or movement of the characters.

A great resource for line work and graphic shading is Framed Ink. My copy is in storage, so I just pulled these from Amazon.

I also think the design of the characters could use some work in recognizability and communicating their powers more. Dream is obviously flying and has a cape in his signature green, but what about his mask? The smile is his brand and is undeniably important to his identity as both a character and a content creator, but it's completely missing from his character. George is the most recognizable and has the clout goggles and Supreme shirt. His powers are clearly communicated and play off his name well, but why are the goggles clear and what is with the clocks on his shoulders. The design choice there adds more confusion to his abilities and character. And Sapnap... Well.. Sapnap is ginger and that's all I'll say there.

To sandwich my critique with a bit more positive, I think the concept is very effective and fun! I like the idea of putting them into the comic world and making them superheroes. It's cheesy, but it has a great sense of playfulness and nostalgia, and might even have the ability to bring in a new audience if they continue with this idea. I've said before that I think Dream could really capitalize on the graphic novel/comic industry if he were to bring some of his Minecraft stories, or other ideas, to that format. Obviously he would have to remove Minecraft from it to avoid copyright, but my point still stands. I know this is likely a one-off merch design for the special event, but I think they could really play off the superhero idea, and if they get a good artist that can actually do comic work (pick ME, choose ME, love ME!!! /ref /j), they could make a short and fun comic run that I think a lot of people would enjoy. Again, all they really need is a competent artist and some character design changes to clearly communicate their story and it would be awesome!

It's important to recognize that comics are digital now and there is a lot more variety in tools and textures that are used, but since this is trying to emmulate classic comic art, I think it's important to share the traits and history of traditional comics. There is a lot of a bad comic art in the comic industry, of course (coughrobliefeldcough), but there is still and understanding of comics and comic culture within bad comic art that is lost in the Dream Team merch. Below I'm sharing some photos that show a wide range of comics and comic resource books that cover a wide range of traditional to modern to cult/zine comics. I was actively referencing them writing this and want to clarify that the world of comics is very broad and ever changing, but when they are referencing the classic superhero action/adventure story, there are certain standards and traditions in play.

Some pages from Spider-Man 1965, specifically notice the use of black as graphic shading, graphic and clean line work, and also minimal backgrounds to make the characters stand out more.

Kick-Ass Volume 1 for an example that isn't classic superhero, uses modern comic coloring, but still consistent with line work and incorporating it into movement and shading. Sorry about the blood, this comic is very fucking violent.

[haleigh-sloth]

I’d like to give Isagi some credit and assume what he’s saying here implies he views this way of playing currently as just one of his many options.

For all the dooming and glooming about him this match I feel like people forget that he’s PRETTY damn self-reflective, and has been even in this arc. Like even up until this moment. And he still is. He seems detached and that’s because he’s just accepted that he can’t beat the other team on his own, and it sucks. But to him the way he’s playing right now is a “version”, not his end all be all.

Playing with his friends like Bachi Chigiri and Nagi and even Kunigami back when he was normal wouldn’t drive him to this state of stress, it never has. This is clearly the result of the stressful environment (something that’s been discussed a lot this arc, the environment you’re in and how you’ll use it to make it the right path for you) Rin and Kaiser have thrown him into. Which I think we can all agree is not a good one. There is no camaraderie, encouragement, uplifting of each other. Rin is crazy, Kaiser is crazy (and both of them have been taking it out on Isagi THIS WHOLE TIME BTW), Noa and Loki are self-serving dicks, Kunigami is basically absent from this arc because of the shit he’s dealing with, and Isagi is pretty much on his own.

So the desperation to just end this match (and shut Rin up) is coming out like this.

[kat-rose-griffith]

I think I’ve made so much more Bridgerton content and analysis of Colin’s character and Luke’s acting than I probably would’ve done otherwise purely from the passion that I feel to positively counteract all of the creeps and assholes that keep being so hateful at him for literally just existing

[s0ull3ss-p3rs0n]

The God™️ is literally a child with trust issues and guilt give him a break :(

[starryoak]

I think the reason I differ from a lot of Akechi fans (and I am sincerely a fan!) is that I don’t find his backstory all that sad or for that matter interesting. It might be because I see it more interesting analyzed as a warped reflection of Ken Amanda’s backstory rather than a unique story of its own. And his plan, I find it pathetic more than anything else, sad only in its level of sheer stupidity, shortsightedness and miserable ineffectuality of self obsessed teenager-hood. But that’s what’s compelling about it and him! in my eyes, what’s interesting and unique about his character and has the potential to tell new stories that haven’t been done before has nothing to do with his pain or his redemption, except when kept in conversation with the undeniable fact that his plan was an ass-backwards idiotic and selfish plan fueled on nothing but spite by a deeply self-centered child who grew into an egotistical young adult without any reckoning of how completely stupid and impossible it all was.

[quetzalpapalotl]

Crack AU post Sins where Tarantulas figures nothing would piss off Prowl more than him getting together with Optimus Prime, so he asks Optimus to pretend to be his boyfriend and in exchange Tarantulas will reverse global warming or whatever Optimus needs for the humans to like him. Optimus agrees For The Sake Of Earth, and also he honestly does want to get back at Prowl. Prowl gets so mad he runs the risk of his own energon catching fire. Optimus is now Springer's dad #5

[loveologystudies]

go my child. steal ai generated "adopts". create illegal closed species ocs. be crazy with it. nobody can stop you

[phantomsies]

on second thought, I’m thinking I should’ve never come back to this app lmao

[the-way-astray]

Since you seem to be most familiar with the side of tumblr that isn’t afraid to express their opinions about characters they don’t like, I was wondering if you know any accounts on tumblr that talk about Fitz in a similar fashion? Or just anything “anti-Fitz” for that matter. I can’t find any. Thank you!

okay i'm not familiar with any "side" of keepblr that doesn't post in the main tag . . . and since there's never much fitz hate in the main tag, if at all, i don't know any fitz hater blogs whatsoever. i'm not like this because i'm on some general hater "side" of keepblr, i'm like this because i hate keefe and i want to shout into the void about it, regardless of whether people agree or not

having said that you asked nicely so i tried my best to find blogs that frequently post in anti fitz tags (like #anti fitz vacker, #anti fitz, #fitz hate, etc.). and i found four . . . i did a bit of scrolling to make sure they weren't like terfs or some shit. one of them did raise some red flags for me personally, so i won't add that blog here in the interest of not making a callout post (long story short. red flags to do with the stripper fintan instagram war situation. if you know you know) so i'm leaving that one off (if you really want that one, dm me). here are the others: @carcinized @cottoncandytrafficcones @turquoise-skyyyy . . . these three seem to have intense negative opinions of fitz

a fitz (and general character) hater green flag for me personally is when they can be friends with fitz (and general character) lovers and when they make jokes about being a hater and don't take it too seriously, and one of these blogs (carcinized) is friends with summer and also makes jokes in a similar vein to the way i joke about my keefe hatred. so that's a good sign i think. i wouldn't say either of them hate fitz in a similar fashion to me because for the life of me i cannot find a single post from either of them that explains why they dislike fitz, and i'm very vocal about the reason i dislike keefe. no paragraphs-long rants to be found on any of their blogs . . . i'm sorry anon i tried. and i'm also like 90% sure that none of them are frequent kotlc posters anymore. so that's also a thing . . . yeah i tried my best but i genuinely think that active fitz haters are just unicorns on tumblr