#i wrote an essay lol

[ezdotjpg]

Comic Paneling Process

to answer a question from @pluviatrix​, here’s a post detailing how I approach paneling!

The unhelpful answer is that it really depends on what kind of scene I’m trying to fit onto a page, because the energy and mood will dictate the kinds of shapes and layouts I gravitate towards. I usually start out with a short script, which for the last two bonus links updates looked like this:

Writing the script helps me visualize what needs to happen and gives me a good idea of how many pages it might take. There’s a few rules of thumb that I use to start:

angled panels = intensity. So do irregular panel shapes, but the more irregular the panels are the harder it is to balance other panels on the page, so that’s something to keep in mind

Lots of small, close together panels = fast-paced action, especially if the panels are angled. Larger, spaced out panels = a slower paced, even maybe a slow motion feel.

5 panels per page is the sweet spot. Sometimes it can be less if a moment is really important and I want to emphasize it, but I try not to have any more than 8, because any more and it starts to get overcrowded.

leave room for text bubbles!!!!!!! they need more room than you think!!!!!!!

Your goal is to lead the eye around. Because I make comics in english, that means that everything should be designed around zig-zagging from left to right, down, left to right. The eye will naturally do that, but helping it out leads to pages that feel smoother. If I’m going to break that form, I have to find a way to force the eye to go where I want it to go. 

That last one is the most important. There’s a few ways you can create this zig-zag: with the text boxes, with the poses, or with the panels themselves. Ideally it would be all 3. So for a basic 5 panel example:

option 1 is less visually clear than option 2, because the first two rows of panels don’t lead your eye smoothly. Generally speaking, whatever you choose for your first row of panels, the second row needs to contrast, unless you’re creating an even grid intentionally. Here’s an example of a page where I break the rules a little, but I make up for it by guiding the eye around:

Once again generally speaking putting two smaller panels next to one taller panel can be somewhat confusing as to which order you should read the panels in, but I tried to mitigate that with making those two small panels a pulled out shot and then a close-up of the same subject. Then, the use of that big text bubble coming from the horn forces the eye up to the top of the taller panel, which then draws ur eye down because of those two silver lizalfos at the bottom. The lizalfos in those two angled panels are posed facing the ways I want to lead the reader’s eye, and so is Beetle. And here are some notes on how I approached this action-heavy page: 

That middle row is all angles with things swinging in and out of frame to suggest quick, sudden movement. That close up of Loft is wedged in the middle like it’s chipping off the next panel, with Loft looking direct into the events of the next panel to communicate that he’s anticipated the Lizalfos’ movements. And to finish off, here’s what this most recent update looked like in sketch:

I start out making the panels themselves first and just treat it like a graphic design problem, trying to make sure it all feels balanced on the page. And then I fill them in and adjust as needed.

 And that’s about all I’ve got! I hope this was helpful lol and if anyone has like specific questions abt stuff feel free to shoot them my way! Of course, everything that I say here has an exception, and there are plenty of instances where you can break these ‘rules’ in service of the story you’re telling. That’s actually my biggest piece of advice- your panels are a part of the story! They’re another tool in ur arsenal to set the mood and feeling, so you should utilize them!

[yeti-zeus]

wow I can't believe they made cole sprouse transgender and gave him bottom surgery via murder and a tanning bed, glad to have my opinions agreed with on this one (that frankenstein's creation has always been trans)

[kaiserouo]

Tired Ghost

[comradekatara]

I just read your rant about zukka and it made me think what if zuko’s obsession with sokka has to do with the fact that sokka in some ways encompasses some of the traits that have been forced on Zuko since he was young like the whole killing without mercy or remorse and the need for control and the strategic thinking. But Sokka uses these skills no to try and rule the world but to help aang stop Ozai. I haven’t watched atla in a while but your analyses help me realize a lot of details that I missed about it was he characters

yeah i’ve talked before about how sokka and azula being so similar must be kind of a mindfuck for zuko because sokka has “a killer instinct that’s just so fire nation” but also he’s literally friends with the bald baby pacifist monk avatar who says shit like “do you think we could’ve been friends too?” and so zuko clearly has no idea what to think. like he and azula were both indoctrinated into this world that valued certain traits and dogmas over others (ie, sokka’s over aang’s) and so azula sees sokka as more of a threat.

it’s funny because obviously sokka and zuko’s first encounter is sokka getting his ass handed to him by a guy who doesn’t even care that he’s in his way, but also that scheme is pretty immediately disrupted by sokka’s boomerang. and then the next time they meet, sokka has actually spent time training under someone (instead of fumbling around in the dark by himself) and can now hold his own far better. and every single encounter after that sees sokka not only rising to zuko’s level, but surpassing him, fighting him, foiling his plans, advocating to leave him for dead, ignoring him, dismissing him.

even at the western air temple, sokka is the liaison who welcomes him into the group (the designated “leadership” role comes with more responsibilities than simply assassinating assassins), but he also makes it pretty clear that he doesn’t care for or trust zuko throughout “the firebending masters,” even if his manner of bullying is far less overtly malicious than katara’s. and yet, zuko cannot discount him. zuko saw him kill combustion man. zuko understands his value to the group. zuko recognizes that quality he and azula share. zuko may have had an advantage over him the first time they met, but it sure didn’t last long. if azula and zuko have anything in common, it’s a mutual respect for sokka.

like, sokka is the only member of the gaang’s name azula actually says (aang is “the avatar,” katara is “peasant,” toph is [insert blind joke here], and suki is “my favorite prisoner”) and on the day of black sun, she elects to distract sokka first and foremost knowing that he’s their “leader.” and she does clearly respect him more than most people do because she can see herself in him (at least to some extent, i don’t think either of them are actually insightful enough to realize how deep that connection truly goes) and thus can recognize his worth as someone who is in a similar position, albeit on the opposite side.

zuko does say and aang and katara’s names (and appa’s), but sokka’s name is the first he says, and it’s really the only name he uses as a mode of address. and the matter of naming is clearly important to royal heirs, who are defined by their names and titles. we see that especially when zuko confuses ursa’s “remember who you are” with “remember your ancestry,” declaring who he is not as internal identity, but as title. to afford someone the respect of addressing them by name is to implicitly demonstrate respect for them.

this is further demonstrated by the fact that unlike “you just had to pick up the glowing egg” zuko of just an episode prior, zuko really does follow sokka’s leadership and places his complete faith in his abilities. there’s no complaining or backseat driving or undermining of his intentions, which is genuinely anomalous for zuko, who generally refuses to listen to anyone about anything (unless he’s being actively scared into submission, and even then he’s stood up to ozai multiple times). he’s not outspoken in these episodes, however. he is downright docile. and it’s because he genuinely believes sokka to be his superior. which isn’t to say that sokka isn’t better than he is, but like. aang is too and he doesn’t take his knowledge into account! because aang doesn’t represent the values that zuko strove to embody his entire life.

what’s more, i would imagine there’s something kind of satisfying, if not downright intriguing, about knowing someone who basically is what you aspire to be, who you were told you must be your entire life, and seeing that he is just. absolutely fucking miserable. like azula is also miserable, but zuko doesn’t know that (yet), because she hides it better. but sokka is genuinely suicidal (especially in these episodes). meeting this idealized standard of perfection you have always failed to reach and realizing that whatever standards you once (recently) held yourself to are actually deeply unfulfilling. that sokka isn’t “perfect,” that he actually considers himself a failure. and the fact that when he does fail, he considers it the end of the world because he never built up the resilience one gets from being a normal person who doesn’t always succeed on their first try. and zuko’s like “finally, something i have that he doesn’t: intimate knowledge of what it’s like to constantly fail and underperform and disappoint people!”

zuko is really perfectly equipped to support sokka in this situation, because he idolizes him enough to provide him with the unconditional support sokka feels fundamentally undeserving of, and also understands sokka’s misery enough to give him actually meaningful advice when it matters. what’s interesting about how zuko feels about sokka is that it’s not just about uncritically putting him on a pedestal for being Nice Azula or whatever, it’s also about zuko’s genuine desire to help sokka and protect him.

yue inhabits the martyr role that sokka has always envisioned himself in, suki establishes herself as someone who is equally capable of protecting him and he can her, and zuko risks his life to support sokka on his crazy suicide mission, when sokka was so intent on going it alone because he wasn’t thinking clearly didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. sokka doesn’t need someone who treats him like an irreproachable god. in fact, i think sokka would hate nothing more than having a sycophant. he needs someone who understands that he is fallible and vulnerable and needs help like any human being does, and respects and trusts and admires him anyway.

zuko doesn’t have the capacity to recognize azula’s insecurities and shortcomings, or the desire to help her, but he does for sokka. because he never felt like he was in a position where he had to compete for something against him. he’s not trying to usurp sokka’s role as “leader” (except for whatever was going on in “sozin’s comet,” but that’s for another post) and is happy to simply follow him, in a way that is genuinely uncharacteristic for him.

and you can say that it’s because zuko is gay and stupid (which wouldn’t be wrong, per se), but it’s also because sokka embodies everything zuko ever thought he had to be. and it’s because sokka doesn’t even care. it’s the recognition that one person’s idealized model of behavior is another’s burden. that if zuko had been “perfect” like sokka, he never would’ve gained the wisdom to accept defeat and not let it deter him. perfect like azula, who, like sokka, shatters in the face of failure.

zuko says as much in “the siege of the north,” and again in “the western air temple.” the fact that he isn’t a prodigy, the fact that he “had to struggle and fight” to achieve what little he has, is “what made me who i am.” so he’ll respect sokka, of course, because sokka is who he wished for so long that he could be. but he’ll also support sokka, because he has just enough distance from the situation to recognize that he’s not an island (even if sokka himself is convinced that he must be). so it’s not obsession, per se, nor is it simply uncritical admiration that confuses excellence for infallibility. it’s unconditional support born of understanding, a sort of empathy. it’s devotion.

[quinn-pop]

let’s do some autistic meta knight headcanons!! over explaining my interpretation of meta knight yet again wooooo

this orb has NO idea how to talk to people!!! outside of work anyway. a lot of this is partially due to upbringing (suppressing his emotions all the time) but he does not know how to express emotions, like…at all.

this goes into a few things

1. yeah talking is hard. even after figuring out what he wants to communicate he will struggle. conversation can be so overwhelming, especially under pressure. he will need time lol

2. because of that, forming connections is hard. i really don’t think meta is much for shallow relationships, and certainly not early in the timeline. which also means he has very little experience with friendship. so a lot of the relationships he did have went kinda neglected, and issues that probably could’ve been worked on by talking became…*cough romk* escalated.

3. honestly i wouldn’t be surprised if meta convinced himself he couldn’t feel emotion (anymore) until like. katam-ish. he tried very hard lol

vulnerability is terrifying. (though this gesture here is also just comforting, like his little cape cocoon thing he does.)

unmasking—yeah im taking the mask thing very literally here—is a big deal and a very slow process for mk. i’m sure he has a lot of feelings on that lol. it served as a way to ensure no one could ever, y’know, see him.

i can’t say i think he’d ever fully ditch it—there’s always gonna be some days that are more stressful than others and if having it could help him get through it, it just makes sense. mainly when working.

it really is about vulnerability. granted, i don’t think he has the most expressive face (in my head every astral just tends to stare at things) but i doubt he has much control over it. can’t fake a smile but also can’t hide it. probably blushes easy because yeah, astrals; just look at kirby’s face.

just the idea that someone might be able to read his expression and know what he’s feeling before he’s ready for them to (or even understands it himself…) yeah he doesn’t want that

but emotional turmoil aside, i think his mask also hides a lot of his stims

remember that whole “suppressing your feelings” thing? yeah turns out that ignoring half your instincts isn’t a good idea. so in true meta knight style, he tries to stim as subtly as possible

1. he has the least control over his wings, so they will flick and twitch on their own. they’re usually a good indicator of how he’s feeling, not unlike the body language usually seen in cat ears and tails lol. flapping is also an extension of this of course, though he probably suppresses it more.

2. this also effects when he takes his wings out. pretty much every time he’s excited or nervous it just happens. kinda makes me wonder if his wing cape ordeal might also go into the suppression thing… (i’d say yes, but using a cape is also very comforting so it’s not necessarily a bad thing)

3. going back to the mask thing; he stims a lot underneath it. think like biting or pursing your lips. he bites his tongue and clicks his mouth. that sort of thing. his mask also makes it harder to notice that he is constantly sighing, humming, grumbling…all that

one nice thing about the mask though is that it helps a little bit with lights!!! woo

(look at him and his magically floating glasses)

sensory stuff—i think he’s mostly bothered by light and sound. maybe a bit of texture. he’s pretty sensory avoidant and perfectly happy standing off to the side not touching anything.

the one exception to this is physical affection, which is, despite all of this, most of how he shows affection. it’s a lot easier to hug someone than to try to explain your feelings for them, after all.

i think he would like pressure though. so that’s probably part of it. and i’m pretty sure there’s some connection in here to fighting (dang, is that the only way he knows how to get his energy out?)

anyway, pretty much all of this is in contrast to kirby, who i would gladly nominate as the champion of Doing Whatever He Wants. he might pick up a few bad habits, but he will never mask the way meta knight does. he might not understand how he feels, but he’s in tune enough to express it…usually.

this is a very good thing for meta because it helps him to do the same thing. kirby’s so energetic, it’s hard to not want to stim with him. it reminds meta to be kinder to himself and explore his own emotions. he can also help kirby understand themselves, so this connection is very important.

yeah, at the end of the day, everything kinda just boils down to kirby and mk as parallels

this is the conclusion i promise

to me, meta’s arc is about growing stronger by growing kinder, and this is mostly by learning to be kind to himself. letting himself be a person again, loving and understanding other people, and eventually, letting go of all the expectations placed on him and doing the things he’s always wanted to do…

autism headcanons are fun for me because it’s cathartic to write, but at the same time, it just makes sense in this sort of narrative. meta is, to me, inseparable from these things. and so is kirby! that’s a dynamic that’s a lot of fun to play with, and it’s at the heart of my kirby interpretation.

if you actually read all this WOW thank you

[toastereno]

i said i would post my piano covers here, so...what better song to start with than the iconic one from psmd? :'^)

this was all done by ear (except for the beginning where i used bespinben's score because those chords are tough to figure out, so shoutouts to them)! this song holds a special place in my heart for many reasons: it's the reason i played psmd and restarted playing the piano, just to name two!

by the way, there's a little surprise at the end 😊

[zukkaoru]

My ninth grade English teacher walks us through the prologue of Romeo & Juliet, explaining how it serves as a synopsis of the play, and how it spoils the ending. Here are our characters, here is where they live, here is why their love is forbidden. You will spend the next two hours learning to love them only for their blood to spill across the stage. This is the only ending they were ever meant for.

There is no universe in which Romeo & Juliet can survive.

jujutsu kaisen, gege akutami || a collection of tragedies, zukkaoru (march 15, 2023)

[id in alt text]

[not-totally-a-wizard]

One thing that I find interesting about jojos is its heavily familial theme surrounding a fairly broken family.

From the very beginning, Jonathan loses his mother, is bullied by his adoptive brother, and is viewed as less favorable by his father. After his death, Erina must raise their child on her own, only for him to pass away and leave her in the same role once again. Joseph doesn't know his mother. Jotaro's father is missing from the story. Josuke is an illegitimate child who reconciles with his absent father. Giorno severs all ties to his family after their abuse. All of them have few family members that are actively in their lives. And yet, they all bear the Joestar curse. They are fighting the battles of their family members that they never knew, simply because they are part of the Joestar family. Their stands manifest at the same time; they are literally connected by fate. All of this culminates in Stone Ocean, as Jotaro, caught up in pursuing the Joestar family problems, neglects his own daughter and takes on the role that his father did when he was a child. Jolyne hated him for not being there, yet always knew he would be there for her. She stole a car. Why did she do that? So he would come save her. "The Joestar family, through their bloodline, have seized victories by drawing strength from honor and courage. However! Your bloodline is also your weakness. Jotaro Kujo, your weakness is your daughter" - this is what Pucci tells him the moment that Jotaro chooses his daughter over the universe. Their familial love is strong, yet distant. They repeat the mistakes of their parents before them. They are struck by tragedy before they can become parents. They can't connect. And yet they'd doom the world for each other.

I think that, in the second continuity, this theme is very literally personified through the rock disease. Before that, we get gut-wrenching lines like "God took the wrong son" from Joestar fathers, before Johnny marries into the Higashikata family. It is the rock disease that leads to Johnny digging up the saints corpse to protect his family. He was willing to go against the entire goal of sbr in order to save his wife, and when his son was afflicted with the same condition, he was willing to lose his life. The rock disease serves as a physical embodiment of the danger that led to the tragedy of the Joestar family. It is literally passed down through the Higashikata family, similar to the way that "destiny" and "fate" were almost inherited by the Joestars. In the Higashikata family, each generation was forced to choose to let their eldest son die, or kill someone in his place. This death and tragedy is inherited, and everyone knows. Norisuke has to live with the fact that his mother died so he could live. He is willing to do the same for his grandson. Jobin's life was heavily influenced by the fact that his mother wouldn't die for him, and it leads him to pursue the same for his son. The Higashikata family has this extreme inherited trauma that they can never truly escape.

The rock disease even reaches the Joestar family, with Holy becoming afflicted with the same condition. Holy, a single mother like her counterpart, also serves as a guiding force of the story. The fact that she rescued Josefumi when his own mother wouldn't is what leads to him helping Kira save her. Even after they become Josuke and lose their own memories, Josuke understands that Holy is his mother. She was such a strong comforting presence in both of his pasts, that even though he cannot remember anything about his life, he understands how important she was to him. In the same way that Joestars inherit their battles and traumas, Josuke inherits his mother's love. He is welcomed into the Higashikata home. He is given a family. And I think that is the true message in all of this. Josuke literally has no connection to his past, much like previous Joestars who are disconnected from their family, yet the efforts that they made still affect him. It is the people that he chooses to surround himself with that matter, as even when presented with Kiyomi, he would rather go to his real family. Family can pass along a great sadness, but family is also the people you choose to surround yourself with. Love transcends fate.

[monarchisms]

so for those who missed it, geoff talked a bit more about achievement hunter coming to an end on a f**kface break show on september 18th. some of it was stuff we've already learned from the announcement video/thread from AH themselves, but some additional information was mentioned exclusively on the f**kface stream. with rooster teeth being so great (sarcasm) at relaying info to their audience, i had to rely on a fan recording of the stream from twitter to get more context sooner, since the official recording won't be available until the 22nd at the earliest.

i'll put a full transcript of all the clips of the twitter thread under the cut, but if you want a tl;dr:

geoff's known about AH coming to an end for about 6 months (since march 2023), and that the decision to end it wasn't made lightly

he compares AH ending to when he went to quit red vs blue 15 years ago to co-create AH, somewhere between seasons 5-7, and how he continued to work on rvb until he couldn't anymore

also talks about how everyone at the company at the time (like burnie, gus, matt, and jason) were really supportive towards him, and how that led to AH lasting 15 years

he hopes that michael, trevor, alfredo, and joe get the same support he got from the audience when he made AH, and then eventually f**kface. also reassures the audience that all the content on the AH channel will stay as it is

heavily emphasizes that this decision wasn't made by the higher ups at rt or warner brothers, and wanted to nip that in the bud before the rumor went too far. notes that AH didn't fail, it just ended

talks about how there will be a couple more weeks of new achievement hunter content before they close up shop. some of the content includes the members paying an homage to past series and people at AH. it will eventually culminate into a final video that geoff's in where he gets "fucking verbose" about his feelings in relation to everything

gives a shoutout to matt, jeremy, and ray in regards to their streams on twitch, and finally ends his speech by saying that the audience should respect that the past + current AH members are continuing to do the things they love doing while being entertaining, just in their own unique ways

the full transcript:

Geoff: "The Achievement Hunter brand is coming to a close. We have decided to sunset it and to end it. And I've seen a lot of- for a very good reason- and that announcement came in tandem with another announcement, a very exciting announcement about a new brand called Dogbark. And I've seen a lot of excitement, a lot of appreciation from people, a lot of people supporting Michael and those guys [referring to Trevor, Joe, and Alfredo] going off into doing their own thing.

I've seen a lot of fear and uncertainty. I totally get and understand that; you guys are hearing this for the first time. Um, I've known about this for about six months. You know, this has been in some form of discussion or preparation for a while now. This wasn't a decision that was made lightly, uhh... but I think it's the right decision, and I hope that you'll understand and support that, and here's why:

15 years ago, I went to Burnie and Matt and Gus, and I said 'Hey, I'm losing my mind making Red vs Blue.' It was season 5 or 6, and I- I think it was 6 or 7, actually- and I was just so creatively drained and stifled. And I had such a wonderful time making Red vs Blue, but I had made it until I couldn't make it anymore. And I had this idea, and I was very passionate about this idea of this thing I wanted to try. And Burnie and Gus and Matt were so kind and supportive to give me the creative runway to launch and test Achievement Hunter out at a time when everybody- friends- everybody was telling me 'What are you doing, quitting making Red vs Blue? It's a huge hit! You're like, the #2 guy on it. You're a big part of this! Why would you leave that to do this unproven, untested thing?' And I had to! I had to follow my dream, I had to follow my passion. And like I said, Burnie and Matt and Gus and everybody else, Jason, everybody involved in Rooster Teeth at the time, were so fucking supportive and so wonderful to me in that period that 15 years later, we've had 15 years of Achievement Hunter.

We wouldn't be here on this set right now in front of all this Zimmer stuff, in front of fucking dumb pictures of Gavin and Garbage Pail Kids and Barbie and- fucking new Dallas poster, by the way. Uh, all of this has existed because they allowed me to take a chance and supported me taking that chance. And uh- I would be some kind of fucking hypocrite if I didn't provide the same level of support and genuine enthusiasm to Michael and Alfredo and Joe and Trevor as they embark on the same journey I went on 15 years ago! And this is a very- I don't want to speak for them. They didn't make this decision lightly, I guarantee you, and they will explain it in their own voice over the next few weeks as we say goodbye to Achievement Hunter and say hello to Dogbark. [actual dog barks in the background] We worked on that ahead of time.

Uhh... and so I would only ask that you give them the same level of support that the audience gave me when I tried out Achievement Hunter, this untested, unproven thing, and the same level of support you all gave us when we decided that we're going to make F**kface, an audio-only podcast recorded remotely, which is something that I never in a million years wanted to do or thought was a good idea until we did it, and found out it was simply too good, found out that it worked and it ended up becoming, I think, hopefully the best thing I've participated in. I really ju- I really just want to drive that point home. Joe and Trevor and Michael and Alfredo have spent years and years and years making content that they believe in to support and entertain you. And that's all they want to do with this new production.

Everything comes to an end. It's okay for things to end. I know it's scary and it's sad, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen, and that doesn't mean it's going away. We have 15 years of Achievement Hunter content online that you can still watch and enjoy. Hundreds of thousands of hours of content, hundreds upon hundreds of episodes of Minecraft and GTA that are still there for you to go and watch. I mean, hell, I think Emily and I are a great example of that. We've been watching a show that came out in 1978 called Dallas. It ran from 1978 to 1992, and that was 40 fucking years ago. And yet here we are enjoying it, just as if it came out yesterday. Justice for Sue Ellen, I think we can all agree, justice for Sue Ellen. So I would just say that I hope that you'll be excited about this new journey in their careers and this new opportunity for Rooster Teeth. It's sad to say goodbye to a thing, but it's not disappearing. It's still there. You can still go watch all those videos. You can still go enjoy- enjoy all that content, but you can also support them in what they're doing.

And one other little inaccuracy, or not even inaccuracy, but one thing I want to touch on- and then I'll get to breaking cards and being an idiot- is a thing that kind of bugs me, is that- I'm sure you've heard this phrase or some variation of this phrase before where it's uh, said that a lie can travel halfway across the world, while the truth is still putting its pants on, and-"

Emily: "That's kinda deep! I've never heard that before." Geoff: "You've never heard that before?" Emily: "No!"

Geoff: "Yeah, and I've seen a lot of supposition and people saying things that just aren't true. And I want to stop that right now before they travel halfway across the world. Because there is no truth to the idea that like- anytime we make a change that's controversial or a bit scary or different or new or unexpected, there's this idea that there's uh, some dude in a suit from Warner Brothers or Rooster Teeth standing just off-camera, sternly going, 'Make this decision. Follow this algorithm. We're chasing a demographic.' None of that is true. Rooster Teeth would be very happy if they continued making Achievement Hunter forever, but they weren't happy making Achievement Hunter, and they wanted to try a new thing.

They wanted to do what I did 15 years ago! They wanted to do what Ray did when he left Achievement Hunter, right? They wanted to bet on themselves and make their production. I love the work they put into- to mine, and I did my best to make it ours. But at the end of the day, I left Achievement Hunter five years ago! Uh, it would be really foolhardy and stupid and- and dickhead-ish of me to have a problem with them doing the same thing, uh, but it's also them. This is a decision that they made, that they wanted to make. It didn't come from anybody at Rooster Teeth or Warner Brothers. There was no, I don't know, this marketing department you always hear about that's telling them to make these decisions and- 'Chase the Gen Z crowd and come up- This is the name we've workshopped.' None of that's true! They came up with the name. They came up with the logo, they came up with the design, the color palette, the trailer, the content that's going to be released in a couple of weeks, that's all them! That's what they wanna do.

That is them following the same passion that I followed 15 years ago and the same passion that I followed when I created Let's Play, and the same passion that I that I followed when I created F**kface. And hopefully the same passion, the same passion that I created this with, and hopefully the same passion that I'll create the next and the next and the next thing with, and hopefully the same passion that they get to do, uh, as they continue their career. So all I'm asking for is give the new thing a chance, support it. It's a brave thing to do to walk out of the safety of Achievement Hunter into a new thing.

And also, uh, I've seen a lot of doomers that are saying like 'Ah, I called it ten years ago! I knew it was gonna fail!' It didn't fail. It ended. It was 15 fucking awesome years. And I'm going to stop talking now because I'm just going to get rambly. But I will say: There's a couple of weeks left of Achievement Hunter content coming out where they pay homage, if you will, to a lot of the videos and the shows from the past,, and the people from the past, and they have a lot of sweet things that they're going to do. And it'll culminate at the end with one last video that I am in where I get fucking verbose about my feelings about all of it. So if you want to hear more about my feelings of the 15 years of Achievement Hunter, I ask that you tune in to that last Achievement Hunter video. But I also ask that you tune into every video between now and then, because they're going to be saying goodbye to Achievement Hunter with a lot of love and respect and humor. And uh, I think that's what it deserves. And I hope that we all get to share in that together, and then, and then subscribe to Dogbark and give it a shot. [dog barks again] Thank you.

And uh, remember that all of these people that you've loved that have come and gone are still making content right now. Jack and BK, I think Jack's on vacation, but Jack and BK are over there in Inside Gaming, making content, playing video games 3, 4 hours a day, 3 or 4 days a week, playing Minecraft, playing all those old games that you loved to see us play. And Michael is making Face Jam every week. And Michael and Trevor and Alfredo and Joe are going to be making Dogbark every fucking day. And Gavin and I, we're making F**kface every day. And I'm making ANMA and I'm making So... Alright, and Ky has helped producing it all uh, behind the scenes.

Matt and Jeremy and Ray, they're streaming every fucking day of their lives, I believe. I think Jeremy's on, like, 18 days in a row right now, or something? [referring to Jeremy's uncapped subathon]. So all the people that you loved to support and who uh, entertained you throughout the years, they're still doing the thing that they love. They're just doing it in the way that they wanna do it, in the way that makes sense to them. And I just hope that you will be... respectful of that, and give them an opportunity to entertain you uh, in much the same way they entertained you last year and the year before and 5 years ago and 10 years ago. They just want to get up every day and make the best content they can make, and they're not- they're not making these decisions for any other reason than this is where their creative interests are leading them. And much like you gave me a chance 15 years ago, let's all give them a chance today. [dog barks again] That's it. I'm done. Let's open up some fucking cards."

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

The weird thing about the... erm... tense place Ani holds in the history of Starkid and the fandom is that Ani positivity has now sort of become this... beacon of joy for me personally? Like don't get me wrong I'm so happy whenever people say they love Twisted or Hatchetfield or AVPM or one of the more popular shows, but nothing sparks Starkid fandom joy quite like people talking about what they love about Ani.

[collectors-tablet]

Some Collector doodles from my new sketchbook :P Bunch of different pajamas!

Feel free to color any of them if you want.

[sorryimananti-romantic]

rank yunho eras/hair colours from favourite to leaat favourite?

lemme kiss you first for asking my fav sort of question bc if you haven't already guessed, i'm very particular about hair colours/styles so you bet i'll be sorting a single colour with diff styles too! yunho nails every hair colour but this is me little personal ranking:

natural hair>>> bc nothing beats the natural hair and it doesn't matter if it's short, long, styled, messy, it's his colour and he looks the best in this!

THIS. deja vu hair BUT THE LONGER VERSION THAT DIDN'T LAST THAT LONG jkdfhgkjdf honestly with these waves and everything he looked absolutely amazing?? this might be my fav thing ever.

this sandy? brown hair. again, this looks absolutely amazing on him, it's probably tied with that ^ in terms of rankings bc oh my god. look at him??? it just makes me feel things ;-;

yunho i feel is such a natural blonde lmao but again, it has to be the right shade. i think this one from inception and thanxx era looks the best on him and it was styled exceptionally well! i loved the little bits they added in the thanxx era.

i feel like this follows closely from the real era i believe. another shade of blonde that suits him really well!!

silver/blue from crazy form era suits him so damn well!! i swear this did sth to me.

blue from wave era: i feel like this one had to be styled something like this to look absolutely ethereal on him! like this is the softest he's looked hehe

oreo hair from halazia era: it looks great but on my personal ranking its a little low bc i love the others ^ a bit too much hehe

so basically bc i'm so indecisive:

natural longish hair esp from the bouncy era chefs kiss

deja vu hair when it was long lmao (why am i so particular about my hair stylings and length) and the sandy brown ash sth hair from crazy form? era

blonde/pink? inception/thanxx era and silver/blue from crazy form era

light blue from wave era and oreo hair halazia era

wonderland era blonde with black roots (i feel like that shade of blonde washed his skin out)

am i missing sth??

[ofindigoskies]

while I do agree that it is funny to assume the characters in the fell xenologue are simply personality flips I also think it would be so much more fun to take it as an examination of the characters, what changed to make them different from their counterparts, and how it reflects on the ones that we know in the main story

so with that said….. here's my essay on why despite the fact that it looks like personality flip with no basis, alternate Alcryst (Altcryst) is actually not that unbelievable, just a version taken to the extreme due to the nature of the alternate world

"must I do everything for you, my pathetic excuse for a brother"

a good example that it is not simple swaps can start with Celine, I have seen many point out that the alt version of her is not necessarily a personality swap, just her ruthlessness to do whatever it takes for the benefit of her people taken to the extreme in a harsher world

"if they must suffer in order for our people to live, so be it"

(and this is just from her B support with Alear)

Celine cares deeply for her brother, and by extension the nation of firene.

(A support with Fogado)

Now this version of her has grown up in a world where peace isn't a norm and has to be fought to assured, pushing her ruthlessness to achieve it to the front.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if alt Fogado turns out similar to alt Celine

(A support with Celine)

ultimately they are willing to do the extreme for what they believe is for the benefit of their family and kingdom, but since they have grown up in relative peace, they do not often have to act on it and as such this side is rarely shown.

Due to the world fell xenolgue presents which is much less peaceful, this tendency and side is pushed to the forefront. This I believe can be applied to Alcryst as well

(images you can hear)

From just one line, it is already a shocker that 1. Altcryst is extremely harsh and 2. he is demeaning alt Diamant (not giving Diamant a funny nickname sorry)

regarding the first point. (slapping alcryst like a car) this guy can fit so much rage and hate in him. This negative energy in general is primarily seen directed towards himself but we have seen it directed at others before, mainly towards those he does not respect and consider his enemy

(chapter 11 where being a hater overrides respecting diamant)

this cold brutality also can be seen in his introduction scene, he has an aggressiveness that is quite fitting for a country of might, and has a very attack first, apologise (profusely) later policy

this is also seen towards Ivy and Hortensia who used to be his enemies and he does not drop that attitude towards Ivy until their C support when he realises that she no longer needs to be considered a threat

Camilla notes in her bond conversation with him that he is different on and off the battlefield. She also says that they are similar in their duality of kindness to their allies but lack of mercy to their enemies

(from their A bond conversation)

this is especially shown in how his critical lines are quite different from how he normally speaks, in the eng version this comes across as him being confident and assertive and in the jp version he comes across as being steadfast and serious. (I enjoy both and I'm not trying to pit them against each other but think there is enough difference to point it out)

I was going to insert clips but tumblr doesn't allow more than one video per post :/ you can look at the eng version here and the jp version here

notably, Alcryst's attitude and manner of speaking while in battle is similar to the personality Altcryst shows in the trailer. This leads me to believe that this is the aspect of Alcryst more prominent in the universe

so while Alcryst is a sopping wet cat, he has absolutely the potential to snap and bite, the gap moe is vital to his characterisation even

which brings us to the second point, that Altcryst does not seem to have those boundaries and is able to berate even alt Diamant. so. why?

first let's look at why Alcryst has low self worth in the first place, and why he puts Diamant on such a high pedestal.

Conveniently, Alcryst's B support with Fogado lays it out because Fogado straight up was like hey Alcryst can you tell me about your childhood so I can understand why you are Like This

which, in short, Alcryst was born with a significant age gap between him and Diamant, and as such grew up hearing everyone praise Diamant and compare him negatively in regards to Diamant's achievements, ultimately making him internalise it as having no worth at all. which. uhm. why are you comparing a child's achievement to someone probably in their teens.

(support B)

Alcryst has put Diamant on such a high pedestal that he is flawless in his eyes. (this also isn't helped by Diamant's own issues that is afraid of showing weakness) He seems to have his world blown when he learns that Diamant actually has fears and weakness.

(Support B with Diamant)

It is important to note that Alcryst in fact does have a good relationship with his family, we see Diamant and Morion be nothing but supportive towards him and his mention of his mother in his support with Saphir imply a good relationship there as well.

the impact that outside influences can still have on someone should not be underestimated though. I imagine this dissonance of being doted by his family and criticized by outsiders (who are likely nobles and private tutors who he still interacts a lot with) complicates his feeling of self worth and exacerbates his imposter syndrome

and the thing is that Alcryst is actually pretty skilled! It is straight up stated in his Ally notebook

(from serenesforest)

and in his A support with Diamant he scores 8 out of 10 in their archery competition while Diamant scored 9 out of 10

(A support)

which, you can take at face value like Alcryst that Diamant performed better than him, or note that it is actually pretty impressive for him to be so closely matched with Diamant considering their large age gap and thus the amount of experience they have

he is also very strategic that is noted in both his solo and paired endings, as "brilliant yet humble strategist" and "unrecognizably composed and powerful force in government" respectively. he also seems to naturally note the strategic effectiveness of areas he's in based on some of his exploration quotes

(from serenesforest)

lastly... regarding inner strength...... Alcryst may be far more stronger in it than Diamant. He is more decisive than Diamant, who is more hesitant and struggles with self doubt and his readiness for the throne. Ironically this may be due to the expectations Diamant has experienced since young, leading him to be far more reserved and careful due to potential repercussions. Meanwhile Alcryst already thinks he's at the bottom and as such has no qualms making a potential mess to fight for what he thinks is right. Basically:

diamant: oh I asked for no pickles :/ ah well

alcryst: EXCUSE ME !!! he asked for NO pickles !!!!!

this particular decisiveness is actually what makes Morion say this:

(chapter 8)

actually this whole part shows a pretty important glimpse into what kind of enviroment the Brodia Bros grew up in so I'm going use my singular video embed on it.

(girl I did not notice the promos at the top until I downloaded it and clipped it on my phone I am not going to bother redownloading another video)

someone out there in Diamant Nation has probably dissected this more thoroughly than me but when Diamant expresses his worries, Morion does not outright dismiss it, but still brushes it away, not taking it very seriously. Morion is still a pretty good dad! both his sons clearly love him deeply but he also unknowingly contributed to a lot of their mental health problems, which Morion himself likely acquired from the environment of Brodia as well. he straight up says that he does not fear death, but fears being known as a king who runs from battle.

Diamant is similar to his father in that way, carrying a fear of not being a proper ruler and king for Brodia. Diamant struggles to uphold the values he was taught with but to instead use it to bring peace and separate it from a nation that uses it to wage war. and amidst all that he worries and worries and is told yet again that fear has no place in Brodia.

and despite all of Alcryst's low self worth, he does not hesitate or worry, he is decisive and quick to make harsh decisions. He does what he believes needs to be done, including dealing the killing blow at their father to spare Diamant from the guilt of having to do so

(and the tone of voice he says this in both eng and jp is the same one in his crit lines and therefore what Altcryst uses YESSSSS I am COOKING)

also this is a bit [guy with conspiracy theory strings] moment here but it may very well reflect in how they work as units as well. fe engage's gameplay encourages the player to go on the offense, which Alcryst excels at, Diamant on the other hand is has sol and geared more for defensive play (and the sol barely activates due to his low dex oof) while alcryst with luna that scales off his high dex is activating it every other attack. this is also an excuse to link a funny video I found

so!!! due to the environment Alcryst was raised in, he grew to believe that Diamant was better than him in any way and as such placed him on an incredibly high pedestal. He in return perceives himself as having very little worth, when in truth is very skilled and possesses many traits that one could argue are very "Brodian"

well what kind of enviroment did Altcryst grow up in?

we can see that Altcryst is harsh to alt Diamant, Diamant is no longer on the high pedestal our Alcryst has placed him at (or arguably never there at all? there's not enough information to know)

so what's going on with alt Diamant? from the trailer, the way he speaks sounds much meeker to the Diamant we know. from a surface glance of that, it might be assumed that the brothers simply swapped personalities, but you have already read my argument on why the world is not a simple swap, just a change of circumstances that brings sides of the characters we know that is not so easily seen pushed to the front. and the same can be said of Diamant, who we've already seen struggles with anxiety, self doubt, and hesitance on his readiness for the throne.

Morion notes that Diamant has increased worry lately, from what I can assume is from the threat of a full war. I don't find it difficult to believe that alt Diamant, who grew up in a much less peaceful world, will be much more anxious. as such, the anxiety and fear that Diamant keeps buried is brought to the forefront in this world.

Altcryst interestingly says "must I do everything for you" implying that he believes he can do a better job than Diamant and take over the task, that he has done this multiple times before, and maybe even a frustration that he has to do so. If it's difficult to imagine Alcryst believing he can be better than Diamant he actually achieves this in their A support!

in this context he follows it up by saying

(which is another important part of Alcryst's character, that he will push past his boundaries for the sake of his loved ones)

there's no direct connection, but I do find it interesting how he says this after he realises that Diamant isn't as perfect and flawless as he thought

going back to Alcryst and Fogado's B support, this very interesting idea is brought up:

and Alcryst's response to why he wouldn't is:

which poses the question of, how would Alcryst have turned out if he realised much earlier that Diamant isn't as flawless as he thought?

well the fell xenologue is right there

half joking, while I do think that is part of the reason, the other reasons that I have mentioned play a role as well. along with the fact that due to the restless state of the world, Altcryst is put into "battle mode" more often bringing out that side of him more

okay so here comes my own interpretation that has less of me pointing back to canon and more of me going a bit delusional (I say as if I am not over 2k words deep in this)

In this world with more prominent conflict, alt Diamant is unable to cope with it like our Diamant can. As such, the worries and anxiety that our Diamant already hides is brought to the forefront for alt Diamant, making him come of as much more meeker than the one we know.

Due to this Altcryst does not place alt Diamant on such a high pedestal that our Alcryst does. I won't be surprised if the comparison still happens though, because it was already illogical in the original world. However, instead of taking it lying down and internalising it, Altcryst instead channels the rage and anger that our Alcryst is already capable of to prove them wrong. and from the competency already seen in our Alcryst, this is entirely doable.

I also believe that due to the state of the fell xenologue world, there are more conflicts thrown at them. and compared to Diamant's hesitance, Altcryst's quick thinking decisiveness often leads to him stepping in and taking charge. (much like how alt Celine is more ruthless in this world and alt Alfred, while reluctant and hesitant, still calls for the invasion to Brodia)

"must I do everything for you"

and while Altcryst's harshness to alt Diamant probably adds to alt Diamant's list of Problems (tm) it is likely a compounding addition. with their large age gap alt Diamant didn't grow up with this and likely developed his meeker personality from the other factors previously discussed

I still think that Altcryst cares in some way for his brother. much like how Celine and Fogado's ruthlessness is tied to the love for their family, Alcryst's capacity for rage and lack of mercy is strongly tied to how much he cares for his loved ones

(rotates this comment from their A support in my head in contemplation)

IN CONCLUSION

the fell xenologue world is not a simple swap but the aspects of the original counterparts that were not so obvious being brought to the front due to the harsher world they are in

the aspect that is brought out in Alcryst is his rage, brutal competency, and cold decisiveness

due to not placing Diamant on such a high pedestal, Altcryst does not suffer from as much lack of self worth and is able to channel his rage more easily (because this guy cannot cope properly in either universe)

Alcryst's capacity for harshness and lack of mercy goes hand in hand with his capacity to love, and I think Altcryst still cares for alt Diamant in his own way

thank you for coming to my TED talk

no seriously if you read all of this thank you so much

[comradekatara]

I saw your toph+katara gender post and honestly... thank you for being one of few ppl i've seen who actually do a deeper analysis of toph? Most people tend to just go "i love toph she's cool <3" and while that's fine, its so nice to actually see someone Get Her. Esp wrt her gender expression and relationship to femininity. She's always been v imporant to me, like when i was like 12 i used to watch youtube clips of the toph+katara spa day scene on repeat and have Feelings abt it (still think its a super interesting scene??). Imo, while a lot of her expression is def rebelling (+overcompensating) and doing the oposite of her feminine upbringing, a lot of it is also a genuine JOY at being covered in dirt/burping/being loud and crass and tough? Idk i just feel like a lot of her contemporary "tomboy" characters were more defined as "ugh i hate Skirts and Dresses", but tophs brand of gnc joy and complex relationship w femininity always hit closer For Me? Like. She's loud and crass and rude and badass and cool, she does find it fun to dress girly but as like an Activity with a buddy, she's overjoyed at being portrayed as a big buff dude ("that's exactly how i would cast it!"), she's actually very spiritual and perceptive when not in Loud Mode, she keeps her fancy hairstyle but adds messy bangs, idk she's just. Character of all time. I'd love to hear if you have more thoughts on toph+gender (or just toph in general), and thank you for actually Understanding Her <33

YES!!!!! i have so many thoughts and feelings on toph. she is one of my absolute favorite characters i truly love her so much, and like you said, i hate when people dismiss her even as they claim to love her. "she's so badass" like okay, and?

toph is also just very important to me as her disability informs so much of her arc. and that disability is also inextricable from her gender and her family and all the factors that shape who she is, her strengths and her insecurities. you cannot separate her parents' abuse from her gender, class, or blindness. it's the combination of being an aristocratic blind girl that informs who she is and how she's perceived, especially by her family. she's an only child in a family that would clearly desire at least one son, and you cannot help but wonder whether they stopped at one for eugenicist purposes, whether they couldn't bear the "pain" of risking having another disabled child. and also because they clearly consider having a blind child such a handful that any other child would draw their attention away from her dire, pressing needs. so they completely smother her, but they also dismiss her, trivialize her desires and ignore her feelings and treat her more like a fragile porcelain doll than a person.

it's why, by the time of "the chase," she gets inordinately defensive over katara's suggestion that she pitch in when setting up camp. i see a lot of people claim that toph in this episode is acting like a spoiled brat who refuses to do manual labor because she's too wealthy to understand, but that's not actually the case. toph is fine with doing manual labor (she literally spent who knows how long working in an underground wrestling ring, she's not unaccustomed to work), but she's averse to helping others. as she says, "i carry my own weight." she's establishing, erroneously but understandably, that her idea of affording others respect is assuming that everyone behaves on an individual basis. she's never had friends before, by her own admission, and so in her mind, the only model she's ever seen for "helping others" is smothering them, denying their agency, and deciding everything for them.

toph thinks that katara is a bitch because katara is suggesting that toph meddle in other people's affairs, instead of respecting their own business. and katara thinks that toph is a bitch because she does just straight up assume that toph is a spoiled brat who doesn't understand the value of community. and while toph isn't a spoiled brat, learning the value of community is indeed integral to her arc. and more than simply communal values of helping and sharing with others, she also learns to rely on them in turn. she learns how to embrace her vulnerability, and let others carry her weight for her. her apotheosis in the finale is literally hanging onto sokka, who is holding her entire weight with one hand, for dear life. putting her complete faith in him to carry her and protect her as he always does.

that ability to embrace her vulnerability among the people she actually trusts to not only love and support her, but also to recognize her as a human being and care about her as a a peer, is so crucial to her identity as someone who has learned from years of ableist stigma to put walls up and present herself as someone uniquely powerful and invulnerable. and it's not that she isn't uniquely powerful, but her strength is also largely a projection. it's why she's so delighted to be portrayed by a big buff man, because that's the kind of person she wishes she could be, so that she wouldn't have to be underestimated and belittled and oppressed by people who dismiss her and coddle her and disrespect her and, quite literally, put her in a box.

so if toph's experience with disability is informed by her class and her upbringing, then let's now turn to her experience with gender, which is equally informed by her background. katara often balks at toph's less feminine presentation, because despite her incredibly righteous crusade against limiting patriarchal standards, she nonetheless has her own hangups when it comes to gender. but then again, so does toph. just as katara disdains toph's masculinity, toph finds katara's femininity offensive because her only real model for femininity in her experience is that of aristocratic wifehood. poppy beifong, to be exact, who is not exactly a girlboss (let alone a revolutionary, like katara is). and when katara tries to shove toph back into a box, toph resists because of course she does, that's who she is. she's not going take what she experiences as violent repression lying down.

toph is wrong in "the runaway" to exclude katara from their fun, and she is wrong to call compare her to a mother, but it's not out of nowhere. there is an obvious precedent to these actions. katara is a genuinely feminine girl who loves to boss people around and dictate how they should live their lives. to toph, this is the most egregious sin imaginable. katara, through her femininity and authoritative attitude, is positioning herself, in toph's eyes, as her mother. and toph calls her out for being overbearing and claims that katara hates fun and wants to boss everyone around for this reason, even though sokka is obviously the primary fun-hating, overbearing member of the group.

however, sokka never dictates how toph should act or dress, sokka never made fun of toph for being blind (which is a thing that really deserves its own post, if we're being honest). sokka makes them spend their vacation time at the library and enforces his color-coded schedules on them and generally brings down the vibe what with his neuroticism and severity, but he also laughs at toph's jokes and banters with her in a way that treats her as a friend and not as a rival. and unlike katara, whose desires and commands seem completely arbitrary to toph, sokka's commands are grounded in a logic that toph can understand. so even if from an outside perspective, toph's claim that a revolutionary teenage girl who loves to cause trouble and seeks adventure and joy around every corner is trying to be the overbearing mom of the group makes no sense, it makes perfect sense to toph, based on her history with femininity, overbearing mothers, and feminine overbearing mothers.

toph presents masculinely as compensation, as a way to make herself seem strong and tough instead of dainty and submissive as she was always made out to be. she associates masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness because that's the paradigm she grew up in. it's why she's always teasing aang about his supposed femininity and calling him "twinkle toes" (which, as sokka points out, isn't manly). in their first interaction, aang beat her in a fight and humiliated her in front of all her adoring fans, and avatar or not, toph's gonna make him pay for that by undermining him in turn, by using his presentation as a monk to mock him. even if aang isn't gay or even gender non-conforming (within the assumptions of his own culture), toph is still employing the logic of sexism/homophobia to undermine aang when she makes jokes about him being "more in touch with [his] feminine side than most guys." and of course, the nickname "twinkle toes" is also deeply affectionate, and aang (bless his heart) never actually takes offense to it. but toph is trying to establish herself as more powerful than him due to the humiliating knowledge that he could beat her in a fight, easily.

toph's masculinity is inextricably tied to her invulnerability. she wants to be taken seriously and treated as a human being, which is respect that has been denied to her due to her status as a blind girl, save for her blind bandit persona, which superficially empowered her and made her feel strong. it's not coincidence that her rival earthbender is a guy who is essentially a parody of masculinity. toph wants to position herself as equivalent, if not directly superior, to the Most Masculine Man, because that's how she'll be afforded respect, in her mind. but she is a girl. and there's a part of her that likes being a girl, and wishes she could explore her femininity more than she's allowed herself to, beyond the confines of the beifong mansion. she keeps her hair long because she still loves her family and holds out hope that maybe one day they can accept her (she comes from a culture modeled off of tang dynasty china, so her long hair is likely a product of her adherence to confucian values). and once she embraces it, she genuinely does get into being made over at the fancy lady day spa.

femininity has been a genuinely harmful and repressive agent in toph's life, and it's understandable that she would internalize some misogynistic notions surrounding girl/womanhood as they were foisted onto her her entire childhood. but femininity isn't ontologically harmful. femininity isn't ontological, period. i think as toph gets older, and her friendship with katara grows deeper as they both come to be more honest with each other, she would grow to embrace her masculinity in a more organic and less compensatory way. less of a "i'm not like other girls" complex (which itself is not something that girls should be mocked and punished for, but rather a product of a patriarchal system that oppresses and alienates women, thus leading many less gender-conforming girls to attempt to assert their agency and individuality in any way they can, even if it means putting down others in the process), and more so genuinely coming to embrace her butchness. (you don't necessarily have to read her as a baby butch, of course, but considering that being a masculine girl is important to her, i think that's a really lovely and beautiful synthesis of her relationship to gender as a character.)

i think toph would learn stop pitting masculinity and femininity against each other, and instead embrace whatever aspects of either (or neither) she desires, while nonetheless respecting everyone else's deal in turn. i think she would also, in a key turning point, realize that even if she loves her parents, she doesn't have any obligation to be the daughter they expect her to be, and cuts her hair. and as she grows more secure in herself (which comes with age, no twelve year old is truly confident in their own skin), she would stop feeling the need to put other people down to feel big, and be comfortable embracing her desires. and, credit to her, she's clearly already on her way. the progress she makes being vulnerable, especially around sokka, even in what is chronologically a matter of months, is huge.

toph isn't just "badass" because she's strong and powerful. but rather, what makes her so powerful, at least to disabled viewers who see their struggles reflected in hers, is her ability to grow with her environment, allowing herself to admit help, and letting herself be loved. if you couldn't already tell, toph is incredibly important to me.

[milkbreadtoast]

(random) ngl before i started learning korean i felt like the worst failure of a korean but now i feel like the best failure of a korean (/j) HAHA

like im struggling to speak but least im speaking..!! I feel like I've restored an essential piece of myself that was missing...

[bleue-flora]

There has been a lot of discussion regarding c!Quackity, c!Tommy and c!Dream recently, a good portion stemming from the recent video circling around, where it is depicted that c!Tommy not only knew of c!Quackity’s torture but approved.

But while I could write an essay about it (ok yea I did…but) instead I want to shift the focus a bit, away from the same debates we keep having year after year. Because I think we’ve become too focused on the characters themselves over the audience's perception of them and too focused on morality, justification, and right and wrong in a story where everyone is morally questionable. Because at the end of the day it isn’t whether c!Dream or c!Tommy were actually right or justified, it is about - Who you root for and why. It is about (you) the audience's perception of the characters, not the characters’ perceptions of each other. Sure, c!Tommy himself feels justified in hurting c!Dream but do you believe he was.

With that thought in mind I found myself reading a 24 page research paper last night on a psychological study that looked at what an audience defines as the hero and villain. Why they are naturally pulled to like certain characters and hate others. What the audience’s classification of morality in regard to the characters of fiction where the conditions of morality are often not defined. One of the things shown in the data and line up to real life is that at the end of the day, heroes and villains are not defined on true purity and morality itself. If they were, action heroes and anti-heroes wouldn’t be successful and enticing. And yet, anti-heroes are some of the most beloved characters. In fact, I for one am typically drawn to violent anti-heroes, some of which are the heroes despite being perhaps sadistic murderers and torturers. But if the audience doesn’t simply define hero and villain as ‘good’ and ‘evil’ then what is pulling us toward taking one side over the other.

The answer is actually more complex than you might think. According to this paper, the first thing taken into consideration in a viewer’s appeal or unappeal of a character has to do with what the viewer considers “appropriate behavior.” Simply put, “appropriateness” is basically a social judgment which serves to approve or disapprove of a character’s behavior. This can be based on many things, such as cultural norms, societal code of conduct, your personal morals or experiences. And I think this is key, because I for one see stealing and griefing when I play Minecraft as seriously hurtful things to do (even though you can always rebuild). To the point that if you blow up the house I spent hours building or take my items it can ruin the fun for me entirely. So my definition of the appropriateness of such behavior might differ from people who take those things much more light-heartedly, causing me to disapprove of c!Tommy more than they would for that behavior.

Even further, when it comes to determining their appropriateness of behavior as in whether we tend to approve or disapprove of them we can look at moral domains, which spark our moral intuition instead of simply categorizing everything into ‘good’ or ‘bad’ since not even our subconscious brain is always so black and white. In the research I read, they looked at two sets of domains (aka sets of relating attributes used to measure and compare): The person-perception domains of Warmth (tolerant, friendly, warm, polite, gentle, trustworthy), Competence (intelligence, cleverness, opposite of stupidity, efficiency) and Duplicity (mad, tormented, violent, and tragic), which help to measure our perception of morality in characters as well as the five moral domains of MFT - harm/care (concerned with the suffering of others and empathy), fairness/reciprocity (related to justice), authority/respect (related to hierarchy and dominance), ingroup/loyalty (common good and punitiveness toward outsiders), purity/sanctity (concerned with contamination). According to the research behind these domains, we, the viewer, evaluate characters immediately and without cognitive deliberation. In other words, when characters fulfill domains it sticks with us and when they violate domains it can send out major red flags to us as soon as it happens without us thinking about it, not later in more considerate retrospect. So then, it makes sense that now as we debate we struggle to find common ground because our judgment was made ages ago and it's hard to reason with our already defined moral intuition.

As such, since I started getting into the dsmp first by watching all of the recordings of previous streams in order in this one playlist then going onto watching all of the blueberrytv videos (at the time of course), which edit the streams to allow you to see things from multiple perspectives. Therefore, I watched things from the very beginning, back when it was just c!George and c!Dream goofing off and dying in the nether. So, my intuitive judgment of c!Dream involves him building the community house, always trying to keep the peace between his friends, exploring the world so he can bring back all the types for wood for people to build with, building the prime path to connect everyone's houses together to make for easier travel, rebuilding Tubbo’s house after c!Tommy burned it down, helping c!Ponk when people kept burning down his house. These are just some of the moments I suspect helped to form my evaluation of him. Showing him as being very empathetic and caring, being loyal to his friends and accepting of new people, being a mediator and trying to keep things fair between his friends, fulfilling at least 3 (since he kinda is the authority that is hard to classify) of the moral domains. The streams also depicted the characteristics with warmth as well as competence and intelligence. So immediately my perceptive moral intuition deemed him the hero. As he fulfilled the warmth and competence domains of the one method and most of the domains of the other method without violating them in an obvious enough manner for me to remember at this moment (These are by no means the only reasons why I’d be inclined to root for c!Dream but that's beside the point).

On the other hand, my introduction to c!Tommy was him immediately breaking the three rules, by going around taking down donator’s signs, griefing, stealing, claiming things and property as his, trying to kill people until he ends up being banned. So he hurt others and causes harm, he is invited to join and have fun but fails to reciprocate that by going about and messing things up, he immediately disrespects everyone and defies authority by breaking the rules, hard to say on loyalty though (as mentioned above) him burning down c!Tubbo’s, his best friend, house doesn’t give me the impression of loyalty, concerning purity he scams and lies, is obsessed (though hardly the only one) with male genitalia (which I personally find unsavory) and is disrespectful towards women so definitely failing in the purity and sanctity domain as well. In regards to warmth, I wouldn’t say so, nor particularly competent, though certainly meeting the more violent and aggressive elements of duplicity. So in other words, in just his first few streams he has violated every moral domain, while also not meeting the warmth or competence but meeting duplicity. So immediately my impression of him is to dislike and disprove as my moral intuition labels him as a villain.

In other words, perhaps our affinity for characters and perception of their morality has less to do with actual legal or other measurements of morality but more of what our initial impression was that formed our judgment from the very start. Because at the end of the day, I feel like the discussion needs to be less about whether this character or that character is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ because their motivation or trauma justifies their behavior and more about what qualities do you appreciate about the character. At the end of the day, it's fiction and you should be able to love or hate whatever character you want regardless of morality or right & wrong. It’s your opinion and I don’t see other fandoms shaming and bashing other people for liking a certain character that others dislike and/or the protagonist dislikes meaning therefore they are bad so how can you like them. But in the same way, I should also be able to hate a character without being bashed for not being empathetic to their trauma… Anyways I think the idea that we all see characters as justified and innocent in our own way is cool, especially in respect to the dsmp which is told from all angles, and that’s what I set out to learn more about and share with you. Hopefully, you have enjoyed my findings and I made sense (…..and if it didn’t, you are always welcome to ask or add on :D), sorry for the length I’m beginning to realize conciseness is not my strong suit…

I hope with this interesting angle, we can lean away from discussions on legal, moral, crime, trauma and more towards questions of preference and characteristics and personal perception - Why do you root for them? What was your introduction to the characters? How do you think that impacted your viewpoint on the story? Has your viewpoint ever changed? What do you think helped define your definition of ‘appropriateness’?… etc <3 <3