#im not above criticism at all i think we would all be better people if we stopped consuming these things altogether

[yugiohz]

mha sexualizes little girls and yet you still talk about it every single day.

yeah that's a shonen jump issue in general that needs to be criticized more it's kind of inevitable if you're into mangas and is the main reason for why i do not buy the shonen jump mangas that i read (horikoshi wasn't even on the list of mangakas that signed that letter to that p*dophile mangaka but they all suck i agree), i guess i'm more consequential with works such as dune and disney films rn because those are imminently tied to western violence like that's a different kind of violence to me idk

[thewertsearch]

GG: you said you are asking me permission first and i appreciate that GG: but if you are asking im afraid my answer is no! AT: oKAY, i RESPECT THAT, AT: bUT, i WONDER, GG: what? AT: i WONDER IF A TRULY SELF CONFIDENT GUY, wITH THE BEST SELF ESTEEM THERE IS, wOULD EVEN NEED TO ASK, AT: mAYBE THE BEST GUY WOULD JUST KNOW HE WOULD BE SUCCESSFUL, aND WOULD DO IT ANYWAY BECAUSE IT IS FOR YOUR OWN GOOD, aND EVERYONE ELSE'S,

I don't think Tavros is just emulating Vriska here. This is a very Alternian mindset, and it's one we've seen before.

Alternia is, after all, an empire. It's a society whose idea of success is inexorably tied to violence and domination - so if you're trying to be a better troll, you'll probably gravitate to both, even if you don't realize it.

It's not really about your personality, either. Karkat is, by all accounts, one of the more moral trolls in the party - but as we've seen above, even he's got those imperial instincts. This sort of thing is insidious, and once it worms its way into your brain, it can be hard to shake.

Tavros is a very straightforward example. He's finally gained some 'confidence' - and what's his first impulse?

To seize a useful resource from an alien, and use it against her will.

GG: that would be smug and arrogant and would make you a bully!!! [...] AT: yOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT ALL THAT, i'LL RESPECT YOUR WISHES, AT: oR, AT: wILL i? };) GG: nooooooooo dont dont dont dont dont GG: im serious GG: uuuuggghh i think my headache is coming back AT: i WAS jUST, AT: mAKING A JOKE, AT: sORRY, }:(

This dude cannot read a room. Truly, the anti-Terezi.

Oh, leave off.

AG: Next time you decide to open your heart to an alien girl…….. AG: Make sure her chat client isn't 8eing holographically projected for all to see, ok?

This exploit should apply to chat clients of any size, provided the screen is visible. Maybe John's Pesterchum Glasses were a better investment than I thought.

AG: Jade let you down too easy. She's too nice! Someone's got to tear into you for that appalling display, and once again, guess who's shoulders that falls on? AG: That's right. Vriska's, as usual.

Tavros probably does need someone to explain what he did wrong, but it should be anyone but Vriska. This is obviously just going to be more bullying, and no actual advice.

AT: i THINK SHE HAS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF NICENESS, pERSONALLY, AT: aN AMOUNT THAT IS SOME, iNSTEAD OF, AT: nONE,

Showing backbone against Vriska, eh? Finally, a constructive use for all that confidence.

Progress is progress, even when it's just a minor clapback.

AG: Hey, I'm nice when it matters, [...]

Nope, I'm calling Vriska's bluff. What nice things has she done so far, exactly?

Sure, she made Tavros the rocket chair, but only after mercilessly tormenting him for his physical condition, which she caused.

Plus, this wasn't even a real apology gift. She kept bullying him after that, and is literally doing so as we speak.

I guess she also made Aradia's soulbot, as an 'apology' for murdering her with her own boyfriend. To be precise, she had Equius make it, with horrific results that she should probably have seen coming.

She also thought that it would be 'nice' to tell Terezi that her blindness 'wasn't that bad'. This conversation was kind of complicated, though, and I'm not sure what her actual intention was.

Anyway, it's pretty clear that Vriska doesn't really grok what 'nice' means. She gives Tavros a rocket chair, continues to torment him, and doesn't understand the contradiction, because she doesn't think his feelings actually matter.

[...] and where it doesn't strangul8te the critical development of people I give a shit a8out, ok?

"After all, no one was ever nice to ME, and look how gr8 I turned out! When you think about it, it's actually a GOOD thing that no one ever showed me kindness! It made me strong! Don't you want to 8e stroooooooong, Pupa? ::::D"

I'm reminded of this exchange from Hivebent. Kanaya recommends that Vriska practice some basic self-care, and Vriska completely flies off the handle, furious at the mere suggestion that she should be kind to herself.

Vriska thinks kindness will harm her. She refuses to accept it, and avoids showing it to anyone, which makes her remarkably consistent in her cruelty. I'm willing to bet that there's nothing she's said to Tavros that she hasn't already said to herself.

[fipindustries]

oppen heimer style

let me just start this by saying that this is not necesarily nolan being back to form, necesarily. i would place it just above the rest of nolan's dark period known as intersrellar, dunkirk and tenet. but that is not an exceedingly high bar to pass.

he has sadly become a director that i still respect appreciate and whose movies i enjoy but whom i can no longer say is an unmatched genius.

lets start with the bad.

its too long, and its pacing its a little awkward, no need to worry for spoilers here since we all know the history. the big money shot that we were all expecting, the trinity test, it happens roughly at the middle of the movie and after that the movie struggles to reach any other point of heightened emotion as high as that one.

its a solid three hour experience and more than once it had me wondering "ok, how much left, are we done yet?" but i will say this: once i reached the final scene and the credits start i did not feel a tired relief that it was finaly over, thank god. i feel dread, i felt doom and dread. i was fucking terrified. this movie has a good strong final scene that makes you forget of previous tests of patience you might have gone through watching it.

it tries to do this weird parallel story telling between lewis strauss and oppenheimer that it feels like they tried to film two different movies and then awkwardly splie them together. it jumps back and forth between the past and the present told form different points of view and a lot of it feels like it could have been cut out and the movie would have worked just as well. im not sure how necessary was the whole lewis strauss subplot to be honest.

the characters and dialog work a little better than in previous movies although we still get a lot of scenes of people talking in a clinical manner with expository dialog and deep philosophical musings. but once again i will say nolan seems to be learning some lessons, we do get a lot of scenes where actors are allowed to flex their emotional muscles.

in a lot of ways this is nolan's most lurid film. i think this is the first time we get to see breasts and naked people having sex in a nolan movie and it hits hard, both because of how unexpected it is in a nolan film and because of how out of context it shows up in-universe. i dont actually want to spoil this one because the effect it achieves actually worked really well.

and now moving on to the good, if i mentioned this might be nolan at his most lurid, it is certainly also at his most poetic. sure there is inception, but in here we get to see a lot of surrealist or downright metaphorical scenes without the excuse of being inside a dream. we get to see things that are not happening literally in universe but that are an artistic representation of what the characters are feeling. it felt really effective.

the man himself

this is a movie that is very much about the titular guy and trying to understand his inner world, trying to understand who the hell was this person, and honestly, where did he get off.

it seems oppenheimer was a complicated man, whose actions and desitions were sometimes confusing, sometimes downright contradictory (there is a nice wink to this when talking about the paticle/wave duality at the beggining of the film). he was a communist, he was a proud american, he was a genius, he was painfully naive,he was merely following orders but he had absolute control over his little town in los alamos, he worked hard for peace, he created nuclear war, he built a bomb that he didnt want people to use.

i heard criticisms that this movie romanticizes his work, that it may excuse or justify the use of the bomb, that it may be too kind with the guy. rest assured it doesnt. the movie brings up multiple times how the japanese were basically already surrendering, how senseless and callous and cruel the use on japanese cities was, how attrocious and horrifying the effects of the bomb were. and how oppenheimer definely contributed to it. if it shows the guy hand wringing or feeling gulty or trying to be a martyr of sorts, the movie definetly calls him out on that too by saying that its very rich of him to have done the deed and then regret it as if he didnt knew what he was doing or as if he had no control over it. a lot of times the movie shows the man as spineless, as a moral coward, as someone who was too weak to take on a position. "you dont get to commit a sin and then make everyone else feel pity for you because there are consequences!" is yelled at his face.

yet all the same, either because he is portrayed by cyllian murphy and his puppy dog eyes or because nolan deep down still admires who he was and what he did, you cant help but feel bad for the guy and like him still. he was a person, a complicated person with ugly sides that this movie in no way ignores, but still a brilliant man who at the very least had the basic decency to feel bad for the atrocities he contributed to.

going back to the movie itself

its has a weirdly star studded cast. if you were surprised by the sudden appearance of matt damon in interstellar, get ready to have that feeling multiple times during this film, every other scene suddenly shows up a hollywood megastar and it will take a few seconds before you accept ok, i guess gary oldman is in this film, and is that rami malek? and oh right, robert downy junior and oh my god is that fucking kenneth brannagh. in fact the one hollywood actor who is NOT in this movie, is surprisingly, inexplicably enough michael caine.

truly, breaking new ground.

and the cameos dont stop at the stars, the characters themselves are a constant delightful surprise if you are into the history of quantum mechanics and science in the first half of the 20th century. you have einstein of course (presented as this old exiled king, his time of glory long past but still sough after for his wisdom) but you have also bohrs, heisenberg, feynman, fermi, and fucking gödel somehow (they managed to shoe in a comment about his paranoia and hipocondry)

the actual explosion

time to talk about the thing we all went to see this movie for. is the atomic explosion cool? is it big? is it loud? does it go boom? does it look cool?.

suffice to say. yes. one of the coolest experiences i had in watching film ever in my life. it has a build up of a solid 30 minutes or so (arguably its been building up the entire movie) the tensin keeps on rising all through out. the countdown slowly advances, the expectations are at the highest theyve ever been and by the time the bomb was actually about to go off in the middle of the american desert, the first atom bomb ever exploted, my heart was hammering out of my chest.

its fully worth the price of admission and the three hours.

final comments

i want to double back to the poetic filmmaking i mentioned early to comment about the main thing its used for. nolan makes it clear in no uncertain terms the horror that atomic weapons unleashed on the world. the man goes out of his way to make it clear, these things can destroy the planet. we've all become perhaps a bit desensitized to atomic explosion in film, made more and more espectacular with the advancement of cgi. but this movie brings it back home and leaves you with a last message about the danger of nuclear proliferation.

i walked out of the theatre with my legs shaking and my eyes falling out of my skull. i had a hard time talking a bit afterwards, i was a little shell shocked.

so, i guess in the end, my thoughts on this movie are just as complicated as the man himself, the man who oppenheimed the world.

8/10

[punkshitposts]

genuine question, sorry if it's stupid or something

I'm all for ACAB truly, I mean that

but genuinely... if let's say someone I know goes missing or gets severely injured, what do I do instead of call the cops?

This ISN'T a stupid question at all actually this is a really common thing that comes up on both sides of the pro vs anti cop debate:

there's no good answer i can currently give you, and any answer i CAN give might not be accurate to where you live. AFAIK, in America, you can't call 911 and specifically request they don't send cops (I guess you can, but the operator doesn't have to abide by your request). In America, at least, our system just isn't set up to minimize cop interactions because cops ARE the center of the system. Telling you that you can absolutely in all circumstances get away with not interacting with cops would be irresponsible of me- you don't have to like it, I definitely don't, but until a better one is put in place we'll occasionally have to use the system to get what we want and need.

any potential 911 alternatives are generally situation specific and regional.

so, what can you do instead:

INJURY: assess. is this person already critical?

YES: you are likely going to have to bite the bullet to call 911, unless you live somewhere you can call the emergency direct to EMS.

NO: Can you move them? Can you or someone else transport them? Will they MAKE it to the hospital using these means of transportate? <- if all of these are YES, take them directly to the Emergency Room yourself and forgoe 911. If any are NO: you are likely going to need to call 911 and interact the cops that show up to save injured person.

MISSING PERSON: I don't think I can in good faith tell you that this would be a situation where you could avoid cops. It could both further any potential danger the missing individual is in, and i believe not filing a report could potentially get you yourself into trouble.

what you may be able to do instead: assess. Where SHOULD the person be? Is there any likely alternative places they could be at? can you or someone else check those places? What reason could they have to not be in the place they should be? Is this out-of-character? How long has it been since they were last seen? Do you believe they could be in danger?

Depending on the answers: First: Assuming that to classify someone as a "Missing Person", several people know their missing and not just you. if that's wrong... you should probably go tell other people. Second: I hate to say it. This is a bite-the-bullet and file a report. Third: Call applicable hotlines. Fourth: Organize search efforts. While official channels have now been used for all legal reasons, Do Not Rely On Them.

YOU ARE IN ACTIVE DANGER: Assess. Do you have the time or ability to call someone else to come help you?

YES: Make contact attempt with this person. With key words being "Active Danger", it is might probably be time to bite-the-bullet again after that. Self-Defense laws vary wildly regionally, even city-to-city, so know what yours are ahead of this. If you have to defend yourself and the offender is injured or killed, the 911 call will in most cases help you PROVE self defense.

NO: See above, minus first sentence. For clarity, I'm NOT using"Active Danger" as ye olde hostile interaction or generalized unsafe situations, but more on the lines of "active home invasion" or "person actively Trying to kill me dead right at this very second"

im not going to tell you that you should absolutely never call 911, that's incredibly irresponsible of me. im not going to tell you to let yourself or someone else die to avoid cops. in an ideal world, we would have a completely different system to use wherein "is it safer to call or to not call emergency services?" isn't a question anyone has to ask, but we don't live in that word right now. And, again and as always please feel free to add your own opinions, stances, takes, ect and to ask me to clarify things that don't make sense. This is an incredibly loaded topic that I make no claims to be an expert on, but I did answer you to the best of my current ability. I apologize for any and all clunky/awkward wordings and phrasings , and this post will probably get edited™ sometime in the future.

[frownyalfred]

I follow you because of Borderline, but I've been watching your responses to asks about your a/b/o fic and it sounds like you're really trying to be respectful of the trans experience. So thank you. As a trans person, a/b/o often feels very transphobic. I know some trans people like it but to me it just feels like a way for cis people to trans their blorbos without actually dealing with what it means to be trans because "oh its just a/b/o." Maybe some people can separate the two, but I can't.

I haven't read your fic but im glad to see that someone out there is putting so much thought into this. Also it's hilarious that your solution to the Snyderverse was "fix it with a/b/o."

Cheers

Hi anon! Thank you for popping in -- let me retroactively apologize to you and all other followers who aren't into the a/b/o asks. Please know you can blacklist any of my tags (a sky of honey or a/b/o mention) at any time.

I really appreciate you sharing your perspective here. I've seen the process you mention in action before, and I can see how hurtful that can feel to trans individuals. It's a very blurry area in fanfiction, I'm learning.

I think when I started with that original shitpost, it was genuinely because I thought Bruce's somewhat erratic behavior in BVS was hilariously, if somewhat seriously, better explained by him being a defensive, nesting omega who'd lost a pup. So I teased folks with the idea that knotting would solve the Snyderverse, but it was actually more about Bruce's relationship with his own gender identity and how it interacts with Jason's loss and his mission.

I think, outside of a/b/o smut fics, authors have a lot of trouble when writing about this topic, just because we have to do so much worldbuilding. I'm not saying you have to focus on the universe's discrimination or gender roles if you don't want to, but it's kind of inevitable if you're moving outside of smut. There's just so many implications I keep running into.

Above all else, I want to tell the story I have in my mind in the most respectful and considerate way possible. I want to talk about Bruce's, Jason's, and even Lex's challenges with their dynamics without diminishing the experiences of gender and gender expression others have.

Thank you for sending this ask, and I hope you and any other anons feel comfortable sending questions, criticisms, feedback, etc. I can't promise I'll answer every single one, but I promise I read and consider them.

[padfootastic]

sorry, I have a lot of thoughts lmao. I think that I find it really frustrating that deep down, despite assurances to the contrary, people DO think that Family must come before everything else and if you don't secretly Love Your Family above all else, then you must be defective or broken or hiding it. And I see it so much with this fandom. Like do I think Sirius loved Regulus? Yeah. Do I think he was closer to James and the people he chose to be his family rather than the people he was blood related to and there's nothing wrong with that, particularly when they were all massive bigots in canon? Also yeah. People act like Sirius Has to Love Regulus Because He is His Brother (and he can't be closer to James because blood!! they're blood related!!! you can choose to not be close to your parents but not your bruddah!!!! found families mean just as much as blood families except wait no they don't because if I had a strained relationship with my sister I would be sad. :( idk it's just weird and not enough people in here critically examine whether or not this insistence is harmful.

ok anon im taking executive decision to publish this bc i actually think it’s such a good take.

acting like found family isn’t just as, if not more valid than blood relations is WILD, esp on the ~neurospicy queer website lmao.

i love the ‘person drops everything for their family member, regardless of any differences they had’ trope but i’m also a sucker for ‘character a makes a clean break and their family has to suffer watching them from the sidelines’ ykno? guilt tripping and yearning from a distance hit so well. but anyway. that’s irrelevant. point is: as we know them in canon? j&s were super ride or die. even w/o a hint of romance, they were ALWAYS centred around each other. james was literally bullying someone for sirius. he was the ONLY ONE HED STOP SHOWING OFF FOR. in the middle of a damn war, with his wife and child beside him, sirius was the one thought to make him feel better. like cmon man. j&s r the fkn blueprint i swear.

[c0smiccom3t]

Dimension Dyfenders Update!! (9/20/23)

HEY, HEY, it's September! You know what that means! (read the above)

Hello D.D fandom, hello followers, mutuals, friends and hello people who curiously stumbled upon this post. You all know who i am, but for those who don't, let me introduce myself. My name's Comet. I'm the co-creator and main artist in the indie webcomic series Dimension Dyfenders! As of right now, i'm attending art school and trying my best to work more on the webcomic while also attending on my studies and get better grades. Now, you might ask, "Comet, what's going on with this series now?", "Why haven't been there more pocket adventures minisode 1 parts lately?" Well, i got the answers right here! First of all, let's start with the most obvious one... The Pocket Adventures situation.

Now, Pocket Adventures hasnt been online as of late, no next parts were being published, and im very sorry for that. The cause for it is the loss of motivation i had, which made me not work on it for a long while. Even when making new panels i feel extremely tired. Feeling like i should do something else (heck, i feel insecure about its panels when i draw them!) But fret not, that doesn't mean Pocket Adventures is getting cancelled. We still have loads of plans on the table and we can't wait to roll them out. But for now, we're taking a break due to IRL situations for example, art school. We, the team, have lives outside of making d.d content. We need to get our degrees and, well, try to survive life. But no worries, because I got plans to get back on D.D P.A Minisode 1 and finish it completely once winter break hits. As long as my motivation gets out of its hibernation phase. But still, i can't wait for you all to see the conclusion to minisode 1. (I just hope you dont mind if i jump right into the 'new designs' in the next pages)

Speaking of minisodes, I've been thinking of releasing minisodes only once a year than every saturday. Though this decision is not final yet. I don't want clout, in fact, i just wanna do what I love. Create stories and comics for everybody to enjoy. But if you guys would love for a minisode to release once a year or once in 3 months, let me know your opinions! Your criticism helps this series, especially its production, grow better!

Now, for the second and final question you may have asked… Thing is, Nothing has changed! But well, if you know me on my social media for my recent Crash Bandicoot fanart, then you might notice that Crash 4: It's About Time, especially it's artbook (and concept art by Nicola Saviori)... Has affected my artstyle, DRASTICALLY. So. The characters, of course, have went through some changes. I'd like to call this new artstyle... "The TFB Effect". As a matter of fact, Dimension Dyfenders (both its miniseries and full series) is going to have a brand new, more cartoony, zanier than ever artstyle! Don't believe me? See for yourselves. Starting with the main ones!

I decided to add a little bit of the good ol' Squash and Stretch to the characters to make them stand out more in the next comics. So of course, some of the colors have changed, especially designs and bodytypes. Oh, and not just that, our heroes have some new stuff, too! For example: Knockout's Dyfender Element is now refered as "Quantum Strenght", Paintdrop's is called "Cosmic Creativity" and Speedrunner's is called "Light Speed". Neat upgrades, eh? (Still, criticism is accepted.) Anyway, notice that in the first picture above there's something that says: "Dyfender Mode", right? Well, if you see that, that's because we are introducing something brand new to our heroes. Called: Omni-modes.

Now, "what are Omni-modes?", you may ask? Well, Omni-modes are modes that are set on the Dyfenders' Dy-watches, you may see that the Omni-Modes are, of course, the Dyfenders' alternate hero forms, to help them take on a mission in a different, more suitable form. When the day needs to be saved during night time (and rarely past bedtime), they activate Night Mode. For sunny beach days but still wanting to make sure nobody figures out their secret identities, Acqua Mode will be at their service. There are tons of different Omni-Modes to be shown (Especially, Pride mode, which was shown on this year's pride post.) So, yeah. Omni-modes will be shown in both the miniseries AND the full series!

Oh! And refering to characters, we can't forget about our main bad guys! Oh, you know, the Dajo-Crew? They got a bit of a make over to fit to the current artstyle! (ft. the updated height chart):

Now that we got that out of the way. let's just head over what will the future of the series look like as of right now. Starting off with the full series and pocket adventures. As said before, Dimension Dyfenders' artstyle changed. But that doesn't mean everything changed, things may be different (the more cartoony artstyle and the sillier tone), but nothing about the series has changed! And that means..

MORE POCKET ADVENTURES IS HAPPENING, THAT'S RIGHT! MORE D.D CONTENT COMING THIS WAY!

As for right now, D.D Minisode 1 may still be in development as we speak, but one thing that's completed right now is the script! Now that its finally finished, all thats left, is the panel and comic page-making (hopefully you wont mind the sudden character design changes, though.)! But in the meantime! We got some sneak peaks for not just one of the panels from the next minisode 1 pages, but also a never-seen before panel from the next minisodes of pocket adventures! (notice: some of these are not final and may change in the final product.)

That's not all! this franchise has got some new stuff coming in during it's run. We got so many plans, but this is the only thing we can show about said plans:

As you can see, you're gonna see some new characters in pocket adventures. While in the full series, you'll get some new characters too. Except... New baddies will be only in the full series, while in the miniseries then later in the animated series... You'll get to meet some new allies! So, keep your eyes peeled for them! And we hope you like them as much as we do.

Now, D.D has never shown a sign of stopping, even during hiatuses, so im happy to announce that more Pocket Adventures will be on their way after Minisode 1 has completed production! We're thinking of putting the upload dates on hold (which means, minisode 2 is delayed until further notice, sorry guys.). So please be patient when waiting for new minisodes.

And speaking of patience... I think I got a little something to keep you guys busy with while you wait... Introducing…

DIMENSION DYFENDERS TOONIES!

Now, you may be wondering: "What is THIS?" D.D.T (Dimension Dyfenders Toonies for long), is a brand new miniseries of comic strips that comes out during the weekends. (Starting in October, the end of september, or during the holiday season! No promises, though.) It's a little something i can make up while you guys wait for the next Pocket Adventures Minisodes. Oh yeah, here's one of the cover for it, too! It's not much, but i know you guys would go NUTS for it:

This will be about how the Dyfenders handle their superhero and school lives in everyday situations. (No worries, the action isn't gone. There might be some strips about school, but there will be more strips about their superhero lives, guarantee!). It's also about what The Dajo-Crew does when they aren't invading dimensions, get into some shenanigans at the castle and also when they plot evil schemes. some strips will be either original with a new short story or a recreation of old strips from phase 1 (not a final decision of course, but you can tell us if you like this idea)! One thing to point out is that some of the strips might take place before some minisodes, now thats another thing to notice, right? And that's the only "spoiler" I can give. So, sorry, no more! OH! And for any of you voice actors reading this who are like: "Wow, i wonder when this series will get a comic dub / animated series. If i'm lucky enough i might be able to voice act for it!" … Boy, do we have a treat for you all. Which will be posted in a few hours. both on bird app, bluesky, insta and on here!  The only thing I have to announce is that during the d.d stuff's production and during art school, i'm not gonna be online on social media. (until during normal/long weekends and festive days.), but no worries, the series is still alive and kicking, even when there aren't posts about it for a few months! Though, in some days, i'll be able to make and share some art for it! You're all in for a wild ride for these months and for 2024! Oh, and about Dajo's account. I'm planning to bring it back. But, Dajo is currently busy conquering Dimensions, but I can assure he hasn't abandoned Sinstagram completely. You'll see more of his influencer side, too. Both in his Sinstagram and in the upcoming strips! (And perhaps in some mini– OOPS! TOO MUCH!) That's all for now! Thank you all for your support on the series, don't forget to share your fan creations of the series in DMs or tag me and the team in your masterpieces, share it with your family and friends, subscribe to the series on Comicfury, and follow me on Tumblr, bluesky, bird app and Instagram if you wish to support the project even outside of comicfury! Once again, thank you all in this slowly-growing small fandom for all of your support, and i hope you're all excited for what's to come! If you have any questions, please drop them on my tumblr askbox, Which i'll be able to answer during the weekends. That's all, back to the offline study and sleep abyss for me. GOODBYE!

[thechaoticreader]

Popular Books I Read and HATED

*Disclaimer: If you like any of these books, slay! I'm happy for you! These are just my own consumer choices, and imo negative book reviews are just as helpful as positive ones!*

This list is not long because I don't actively dislike many books that I read, and I have a very good sense of what I will and will not like, but there are some I had to read/were misled into reading so here we go:

1. Tender Is The Flesh

by Agustina Bazterrica

My rant review is above if you want more details but recently I've seen a few videos that articulate my feelings in a way that I couldn't before so im going to add a few reasons here that were not included in the original post:

It gave very Qanon and general antisemitic vibes: i.e blatant conspiracy made up by the "wealthy liberal elites" to encourage cannibalism for their own enjoyment (I know she's Argentinian however that doesn't mean im not allowed to get the ick from it)

Purposefully inaccurate depictions of meat industry and disrespect for farmers (context: im a vegetarian from farm country with a roommate who works in the cattle industry - Angus beef if you're curious - so im very familiar with the process and cannot say in good conscious that it is all bad -> just support local farmers <3)

world building makes little sense

COWS DO NOT EQUATE TO HUMANS NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO !!!!!!!!

the "disease" doesn't make sense (even if its made up who would believe it)

No themes were treated with the depth nor nuance they require (capitalism, feminism, veganism etc.)

I think thats all I haven't covered but this is the only book I have ever read where my hatred of it continues to grow with each day. I went out of my way and deleted it from my reader and get annoyed every time I see it. And for the record (because yes i'm salty) I didn't hate it because it was too disturbing, in fact I've read and loved worse and ive been an avid horror reader since I was (admittedly too) young. I hate it because there wasn't a well done story underneath the gore. I'll say it loudly for the people in the back GORY HORROR BOOKS STILL DESERVE A GOOD/INTERESTING STORY, especially if you want to try to put complex themes in it. If you cannot write a deep story but you're good at and enjoy gore, write yourself a lil 100 page splatter punk and we can all have a good time <3

Unlike with Tender Is The Flesh I don't have a ton of thought out critical reasons for the rest of these soooooo I'm going to give my highly subjective reasons -> I totally understand why some like them <3

2. The Handmaids Tale

by Margaret Atwood

hated the writing style

It didn't keep my attention

disliked the ending so much I actually threw it across the room <3

3. The Hobbit

by J.R.R Tolkien

hated the writing style

male centered fantasy is not my vibe

my ADHD cannot handle long incredibly descriptive sections in books -> I physically fell asleep multiple times while reading this book

honestly even with the movie I fall asleep every time

0/10 book I want to read

10/10 bedtime story

4. Lord of The Flies

by William Golding

hated the writing style

hated most of the characters (and not in a slay anti-hero way)

was forced to read it in high school and it single handedly sent me into a 4 year reading slump... I missed so many good books because of this and will forever hold a grudge

5. Romeo & Juliet

By William Shakespeare

I'm too jaded and gay to enjoy this -> every single character is so painfully stupid

tbh im just bitter that his (imo) better plays get less love than this one, its way over hyped

but I will give it points for boring me so much that I wrote my first fanfic (Romeo x Mercutio if you're curious ... no its not posted anywhere and it never will be <3)

sidenote -> Shakespeare plays I love incl:

Hamlet (duh im a depressed emo gay on Tumblr)

Macbeth (also duh, witches and female manipulator... need I say more)

Othello (a slow burn for the true crime girlies)

Measure for Measure (absolutely underrated, please please please look into this play -> I saw a production of it and it was incredible)

[thecommunityoftrustworthysinks]

came across a long meta post about gojo (and nanami, but primarily gojo) regarding approaches to the child soldier problem, and gojo's teaching style, among other things like selfishness and other things, and overall i enjoyed the post although i didn't agree with all of it, but it was well written and not slandering of anyone

one thing i noted was missing though in op's discussion, which is probably just an experience thing, was the experience of actually teaching kids in a corrupt system that you can't immediately change

so the tl;dr of the post im responding to (at least the part im "responding to" here) was that gojo is an 'ends justify the means' person (i agree) and he wants the students as political allies not like a caretaker would (this, yes and no) and he still endangers the students' lives by wanting them to just get stronger for their safety and sending them into dangerous fights, specifically contrasting in a way to how nanami strongly maintains the child/adult boundary, verbally telling yuuji he's a child and nanami is responsible for watching out for him (these things are also true).

so first i wanna say the op did not favor any character over another and im not doing that either because these things actually complement each other perfectly. just wanted to get that out of the way

anyway, what i think that perspective is missing is, like i said, what it's like to be a teacher of students in a system that is completely antagonistic to them, traumatizes them, and is designed to beat them down. i work in education, and i have for a few years now with ages from pre-k to college. specifically recently, i did a lot with sat/act prep kids.

i hate standardized tests. they're ableist, racist, classist, they don't reflect anything the kids actually learn in school in any familiar order, the testing environment is hostile at best, it's yet another number that kids put onto their worth, it's another way for colleges to discriminate, it's another part of our whole fucked up awful school system where kids get 4-8 hours of homework a night while expected to sleep and socialize and go to school for 8 hours not to mention extracurriculars and on and on. i don't think i need to tell tumblr everything wrong with the school system, it's pretty widely discussed here KJHDFGF

but no matter how bad it is, i can't change that. i can't get rid of the sat/act on my own. i can't make it so kids get less homework and more time to live their lives in peace. i can't make it so parents don't abuse their kids for getting a B. i can't fix it all alone.

what i can do, is help the kids through it, and i can teach them what it should be like, or at least what's wrong with it now. i work them through the prep material which does include its own question sets and practice tests that have their own grueling aspects. but i also validate their complaints about too much homework, i openly criticize standardized tests for the reasons listed above. and i can hope that i will give them the courage and knowledge to stand up against the system in the future, either with people like me by their side, or alone.

to use the language from the original post, i want them as my allies. i do. i don't think there's anything wrong with that. it sucks they have to live this way, but they have to live this way right now. it doesn't mean i don't care about them, in fact the exact opposite. i do this precisely because i care about every student, and i care about future students, and we need to inspire future generations to do better for their own future and the futures of their children. we do that by doing as good as we can for them while still enabling them with the tools to make it through this shitty system while it still exists.

of course gojo wants allies from the kids. that's how you enact change. that's exactly what teaching is for. yes, he still does send them into battles and expect them to get stronger and fight. they live in a world where the people in charge can (and DID) send three teenagers with misinformation into a fight that isolated them with a special grade spirit way above all their levels, just to kill ONE kid. they clearly did not care about the collateral damage of megumi and nobara in that situation, just to get yuuji killed. they also did that when gojo was gone, because they knew he would argue. as long as that's the world they live in, i can't fault gojo for a second for operating in that structure to make them stronger because if those are the risks they're facing then that's what they need to survive.

im not saying it's perfect, or that he's perfect. absolutely not. he is often careless and impulsive and blind to risks he's putting other people through. that and caring for his students can exist at the same time. i wanted to specifically disagree with the assessment that the allies he wants from the students are just political, and it's unrelated to any care he may have for them. (not to mention separately he says "no one can take youth from the young" etc on other occasions but i digress)

conversely, since the op mentioned it, nanami is operating against the structure. he has the (correct) ideal that kids should not have to deal with this shit and die for it, so he forces that into reality by asking yuuji to stand back and let him take charge of the fight, because he's the adult. and that's actually completely necessary to have alongside something like what gojo is doing. the kids need to learn how to operate and survive in the system so they can enact change later, and they also need someone who's willing to demonstrate what reality should be like to them right in front of them. honestly those things go hand in hand exactly as they should. they believe the same thing, they’re just going about it in different ways.

tl;dr, when teaching in a broken system, often the most you can do to change it for the better is just work within it while also talking about what should be changed, in hopes that one day that change can actually happen, and that's what gojo is doing when he says he wants his students as "allies"

[holyunholy]

messy post going to bed but the selfish and also tragic side of adora which i really love and i think people tend to miss is like. this idea she gets where she's like okay well if im the best at this one thing and im willing to die for it then im above reproach. nobody can criticize me or want more from me, or want something i cannot give, because i've already decided what they want from me and the thing they want is so huge that they could not possibly ask more of me. like you cannot ask her to introspect or to acknowledge how anyone else feels because isnt she already doing enough?? what more do you want?? and if she can actually die for this thing then all the better because then all of that becomes literally true

like people talk about how she's pushed into the role of hero/martyr but i really think she puts herself there. and yea u can acknowledge how she's been conditioned into doing that but its sooo much more interesting if you acknowledge her agency in it. we emphasise (because the show emphasises) how she only values herself for what she can give other people but. there's a lot people want from her that she just refuses to even acknowledge too. she wants to be on the pedestal, she wants to be out of reach. she's decided she's willing to die not bc she's brave but bc the alternative is scarier. she's afraid of everything she cant or doesnt know how to give so she fixates on the one thing she can and in the process just kind of decides what everyone else wants and what is best for them, while ignoring anything to the contrary. that sounds AWFUL to be around lmao. i want to kiss her about it.

catra's actions are so fucking understandable when u view them in that light lol. what would she have gotten if she'd gone with adora in season 1? nothing at all lmao. but as her enemy? she's the centre of her world

[michiviv]

a little blurb i wrote <3 hope i did our boy justice. this was originally for a story im was writing but i decided to release it for the festive spirit!

i hope you enjoy 🫶 suggestions and criticisms welcome.

—

MISTLETOE - k. bakugo

written: december 23, 2022

a/n: the christmas spirit in me is strong. i too would like to be kissed under a mistletoe (kissed in general is fine to)

you didn't think you'd go to a party at your time in ua, much less a heroics course party during christmas season.

you had imagined yourself cooped up in your house with a blanket and a movie. not at a class party that wasn't even for your class. you didn't hate parties though, you were just expecting a different ambiance.

you were having a small conversation with todoroki, as you both reminisced about the younger days you shared... at your parents parties. "you know, roki? part of misses our mingling." you started, swirling your cup of punch.

"oh. really?" shoto asks, his eyes didn't read much of any emotion, he seemed quite indifferent actually. "i assume the other part doesn't."

you laugh a little and answer with a nod. "those parties were lame." you confess. you looked around and it wasn't that much different from your younger days actually. people having drinks in their hands and talking in small groups, but this party was better. everyone was friendly, no unnecessarily uncomfortable dress to wear.

"let's think positives though! we met each other, making the parties a little more bearable." you said with a smile, raising your cup at him. shoto returned the smile and raised his cup a little too, acknowledging it. "yes... that is true."

"i don't think your father liked me though." you spoke a little quietly, pressing the cup to your lips. endeavor always looked at you with intense eyes, you never knew how to take them. he was scary too, so you weren't going to hold that eye contact for long either.

"probably. he was always so... focused." roki told you, with a lack of a better word. his eyes stared off into the distance, when you turned it was momo!  she smiled sweetly at you and faced you "hey, bakugo is looking for you." momo told you softly

you nodded, although part of you found it a little weird. usually bakugo would swoop in and just whisk you away if he had something say. much less tell momo to tell you. you stayed quiet though, didn't say anything about it. "where?"

"by the hallway!" momo told you, maintaining her smile. you nodded and made your way to the hallway, bumping into the man himself.

"eh? weren't you just callin' me right now?" bakugo asked as he looked you. his voice was harsh and though his eyes were narrowed, they were not harsh as they were the day you first saw him.

"you called me" you replied. you both opened their arms to continue arguing when it hit you both. the small mistletoe hanging above you both. bakugo sighed, digging his hands deep in his pockets and he looked away from you.

"i am not doing it like this." bakugo grumbled. by the way his ears were pink you could tell he didn't mean that at all. it was probably all the staring that stopped him from kissing you right now. oh yes, the staring... you could faintly hear people giggling and by people, you mean mina.

you continued it though, just to spite him. "you're right... where's your mother? id rather kiss her." you tell him with a cheeky smile, crossing your arms as you watch him furrow his brows and glance at you.

he scoffs at you, and turns his body to you, his arms now crossed as well. “well i definitely wouldn’t want to kiss you either.” he told you, his voice was gruff though it sounded forced compared to the way he spoke with his classmates.

“what? and you think i do?” you tell him, his face was flushed red with anger. how could you be saying this stuff to him?! and to his face! he grumbled, harshly grabbing your shoulders with a stern look on his face… not very romantic at all.

as he pulled you closer and not very surprisingly kissed you. his hands moved behind your neck, not wanting you to let go. you kissed back, frankly a little embarrassed your… his(?) friends would have pictures of you two kissing under the mistletoe… but it would be cute. maybe youd make it your background for the season. maybe youd catch his phone background with that picture.

he slowly pulled away, looking at your face up and down as he gaged your reaction. you could’ve sworn there was a small smile on his face before his face turned into a scowl and he started yelling “what’re you guys staring at?! get lost!”

you smiled softly as you watched him terrorize his classmates who laughed and quickly fled the scene. god.. you love him so much.

[nabnab-official]

my initial thoughts/observations on chapter 3/deep sleep

this is gonna be a long post. and i mean really long. !!SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!

opening thoughts

so, after a long and deserved wait, chapter 3 has finally released. i was very excited, and i wasn't disappointed. this one still follows the formula of gameplay chaper 2 established, but is far longer and far more scary.

as much as i enjoyed chapter 2, it was not scary at all. the only tense moments were during the games, and even then its not scary scary. they failed to build up that atmosphere of dread that a lot of horror games strive to have. chapter 3 delivered. home sweet home in particular, and the red gas hallucination scenes were scary. i still have a quarrel with poppy over their scripted scares, but this chapter was much better about that than chapter 2.

this chapter has a much different, darker vibe than chapter 2, and im glad. i hope they keep going in this direction, and i suspect they will, especially with the morbid story they want to tell with this game.

i was glad we also got to see the majority of the playcare, even if im a bit bummed out that we didn't get to go in the toystore. the playcare itself is a really good environment, it looks cozy but its also so obviously fake, reminding me of those little miniature towns in trainsets. I did not expect it to be inside a dome. my favourite area in the whole chapter had to be the playhouse.

the new hands were also a great addition, and made the puzzles much more fun and varied. changing up the mechanics like that was a great idea to keep people from getting bored of the same puzzle and gameplay every single time.

the school section was fun. miss delight was kept a secret and that was the best choice, because she was a good surprise. the weeping angel chase sequence is great, if a bit complicated. still, its nice to have an actual active threat.

we got a lot of answers in this chapter, including specifics on what the hour of joy was. it seems that the game is being much more open about its dark lore, and im happy about that. im tired of games being theory bait in the sense they make the story next to impossible to figure out to bait theorists. i just want to understand whats going on.

criticisms.

one thing ive always had an issue with about poppy is the scripted scares. in some places its ok, like the huggy tv scene. but i wish there was more of an active, ambient threat. like in the playhouse for example, having to use the flare gun to keep them away. part of the scare is knowing something is out to get you. it helps build up tension and fear.

on that topic, catnap is definitely underutilized, as are the other smiling critters. catnap is good when he shows up, hes got a great design and im really glad they kept him mostly silent. but i wish he showed up more. tying this point to the above one, it would've been cool if he was lurking around in home sweet home. it would be the same way he does in the office towards the end of the game, and you have to fend him off in a similar manner.

the smiling critters in general are underutilized. dogday only appears for a short amount of time, and while his appearance is very good, i wish we got more. we didn't even get to see what the other bigger body critters looked like, or even have them mentioned other than once or twice.

they could have been a sort of resistance group against catnap, or even have been additional threats. picky piggy is a cannibal and craftycorn wants to paint with your blood. something could've been done with that. they couldve even taken the role that ollie filled. though i think ollie is probably important so probably not.

i didnt like the catnap boss fight. i dont know, it just felt weird. i also didn't like the weird nightmare form he transformed into. i much prefer him in his normal state, hes creepy enough as is.

last critique. kissy died. thats it, thats the complaint. look we've done this before in batim when they killed boris. we're gonna have to wait until chapter 4 comes to see if shes alive or not and shes likely gonna be dead in some horrific violent way. this is more of a petty thing than anything but im still sad about it.

deep sleep

so, the ost for the game isn't out yet [once it is i might post about it if i notice anything interesting]

but one thing i did notice is the main [possibly] leitmotif is actually a song from all the way back in chapter 1, titled deep sleep, which likely not a coincidence. i dont know if they had this planned all along, or decided later, but its cool either way.

you can hear it here when you enter the playcare for the first time, and in the menu theme [at the very end before it cuts off]. im unsure when else it plays but it probably does play elsewhere, similar to how the thousand year melody is also a common leitmotif

lots of death [and huggys death]

so, huggy is confirmed dead, by poppys word. im kind of sad about that. i think it wouldve been cool if he had come back, covered in blood and all messed up from his fall, hungry for revenge. at first he just wanted to eat you but now its personal.

but alas we can't always have what we want. PJ is also possibly dead, but im not sure. its confirmed that he doesnt die in chapter 2, as mommy doesn't kill him like she does bunzo and the wuggies. but in chapter 3, it looks like PJ is on catnaps shrine. but until hes confirmed dead im holding out on saying he is. it also seems like huggy is haunting the player, in a way. he appears in their nightmare hallucination, and then again as a cutout later almost tauntingly.

poppy is right, we have killed a LOT of people. we killed huggy, mommy, miss delight, and helped kill catnap. we indirectly caused bunzo and the wuggies to die [mommy killed them, but if we hadn't won the game she would not have done that, so we are involved regardless]. and now, we have to kill the prototype. i did not expect this much death in this chapter, but i enjoyed it.

catnap

out of all the main antagonists, catnap is by far my favorite. in the long wait leading up to chapter 3, the anticipation to his reveal was a lot of fun. theorizing with other fans, making fan interpretations of what he would look like. originally i thought he would be a bat

his actual design is fantastic. i didnt expect him to be so skinny, but it really works in his favor. him being on all fours also sets him apart from the other antagonists. i wont go into detail about his design here

his actual character is really good and is what makes him my favorite. those who followed the arg that led up to chapter 3 know catnaps full story, about how the prototype saved his life. im not gonna talk about that here because im gonna talk about that and his death in a different post. but catnaps religious devotion to the prototype makes him really interesting. hes so obsessed with him he builds shrines, and is even willing to kill all the other smiling critters for being heretics the choice to keep him mostly silent also really elevates his character. i think it wouldve been much different were he talkative like mommy long legs.

i do think he was underutilized though, especially with how much he was teased

prototype

i was kind of hoping to see at least a little bit more of the prototype's body, but we got a voice reveal so thats good enough. the prototype is a very interesting character, and im really excited to see what he looks like in the future. he must be huge, if he took catnaps body to presumably use on himself. the prototype interests me, because im trying to figure out what his deal is. poppy seems to think hes pure evil, but we never actually see him being evil. the only truly evil thing we know he has done is enact the hour of joy. does he kill other toys all the time? what else does he do thats so evil? we dont really know yet i guess he saved theodores life and sacrificed his freedom for it. right now he is morally grey. he also killed catnap, but im not sure why he did that. was it a mercy kill? did he simply not tolerate that failure? its hard to tell with a silent scene.

either way, the prototype intrigues me. some people think he is elliot ludwig, but i dont think so. i think he will just be nobody in particular, ideally. hes good enough on his own as a character

elliot ludwig and ollie

during the hallucination sequence in the home sweet home, its said that they found the body of a young boy in an upstairs room in elliot ludwig's house, a body which was missing organs and bones. this was after ludwig had died, and playtime co seems to want to fight the allegations. so either ludwig killed that kid or someone was framing him. either way, its not looking good for him. its been speculated for a long time whether or not elliot ludwig knew about the sinister happenings at playtime co, or if it happened after his death and leith pierre took over. this might be our answer. now whos body was that? so, i have a weird hypothesis. its said in his backstory that elliot had someone die in his family, which caused him and his wife to split. people first speculated this was his daughter, who became poppy. i think maybe, with this revelation, it was a son. and maybe, like the poppy theory, that son became something else. maybe hes ollie. maybe hes the prototype. who knows. it would explain why the body was there, and parts were missing. maybe those parts were used to make a bigger body. it has a lot of holes, but thats why its a hypothesis

on the topic of ollie, who are they? i definitely think they're a toy, possibly a bigger body, which is why they're hiding their appearance from us. theres also no way its been 10 years and theres still kids here. they either would have died or grown up by now. i dont completely trust them, or poppy for that matter. people have theorized ollie might be the prototype, since the prototype can change his voice to sound like a variety of things. heres my crack theory, which i know is not true but it would be funny: ollie is boxy boo. listen. ok. the phone is first seen in project playtime, which is boxy boo's debut game, and reveals all his lore, like how he was the first bigger body created. the phone also resembles him in appearance. obviously this probably isnt true but its funny to consider.

speaking of him, im really glad boxy boo was in this chapter. i hope he appears physically in the next one, because i like him a lot. make fun of the name all you want but hes my special guy.

kissy and poppy

kissy is my favorite character so im very glad she was here. though i wish she was there a bit more, beggars cant be choosers. im also glad poppy got more spotlight. when she first appeared in chapter 2, she just felt like circus baby 2.0. but chapter 3 expands on her character a lot more and makes her feel more unique and alive, and like an actual character. which im glad for because shes the namesake of the game and is obviously very important she hates the prototype because he locked her in that case, and killed all those people. but obviously she cant kill him herself, shes so small. so we have to do it. ill be honest, i still dont completely trust her. like the prototype doesnt seem THAT evil to me. we havent seen him do a lot of things. imagine if theres a huge plottwist at the end where poppy is actually evil and the prototype is good. no way thats gonna happen but whatever.

the players identity

before chapter 3 released i thought the player was maybe a past orphan who worked at the factory later in life only to return years later to end things. people theorize that they're the head of innovation. now it just seems to make sense that they're rich. i mean why would we be constantly hearing about this guy who seemingly is just another employee. the player also seems to have done bad things, or at least known about them, because the game constantly references their guilty conscience.

chapter 4

its quite possible chapter 4 will be the last chapter. poppy said that catnap was the final obstacle the prototype had set out before us. and now we have the clear goal of killing the prototype.

in the next chapter, we will probably go down to the labs mentioned time and time again, and uncover the final secrets. as we go deeper down and progress through each chapter, things become more grim and dark. this will probably be the darkest chapter yet. if we go down to the lab, with the goal to finally kill the prototype, we are going to be in his domain, his kingdom. we will probably see new monsters, maybe even scrapped toys like daisy.

anyways i will make smaller posts for other stuff like catnaps death, and other things i find deserve their own posts. thanks for reading if you have made it this far

[youngpettyqueen]

1, 5, 17! 💜💜💜

ty Ally!! <3

Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

generally I prefer to write one shots when it comes to fic! one shots can be so varied in terms of length and what they convey- you can do a scene, a whole story, 1k, 10k, I find the freedom of one shots really appealing. ive only ever written I think two multi-chapter fics, and while I do enjoy writing them, they are limited to being longer-form stories and theyre definitely more of a commitment to yourself and to your reading audience with having to update multiple chapters. its why I havent written another multi-chapter fic since 'and miles to go before i sleep'- I love that fic, I loved writing it, but if im going to write a multi-chapter fic it needs to be a story I really, really want to write and be able to hold my motivation so that I can keep writing it for however long it takes. a one shot can take me months to complete and thats fine cause nobody sees it till its done. if a multi-chapter fic takes me months I might be leaving people hanging, which I never want

(I dont think there's anything wrong with that, to be clear, making people wait- we write and provide this stuff for free and we can take as long as we want, I personally just struggle with some guilt over it because I cant help it lgdkjghd)

5. Do you like constructive criticism?

I dont mind it! I dont seek it out with fic, really, but I actively seek it out with my original writing. if I ever wanted constructive criticism on fic I would ask about it from people I know better within fic communities and fandoms, because I would know and trust that they'd be able to give me actual solid advice. I really dont feel the need for it, though, and thats not like. out of arrogance or anything. I dont think im above it. its just that fic is something I do for fun!

with my original writing I actively seek out constructive criticism and feedback. I think its essential to the process and I eat it up. something im excited for with the novel im working on is getting to send it to a literary agent, to editors, to sensitivity readers all so I can get that constructive criticism and that feedback on it

17. What do you do when writing becomes difficult? (maybe a lack of inspiration or writers block)

I usually try to force my way through it while chanting "its a rough draft it doesnt need to be good its a rough draft it doesnt need to be good its a-" until I can get something down that can be edited later. when this doesnt work, I turn away from the project im currently working on and I go to something else

one such example is when I had really bad block while writing 'and miles to go before i sleep' I turned to writing a few other one shots so that I could get the words flowing again. im a firm believer in writing every day, even if its just a few words, so working on other things really really helps me work through a block and not get stuck for months on end. im currently working through other WIPs while a specific one gives me a lot of trouble, and taking prompt requests the other day has really helped me get back on my groove! im working through the last request now which is a combo of the request itself and an older WIP I'd been struggling with, and its been nice to post writing again

[newyorkkiss]

it truly does jokerfy me a bit how overlooked they are and have always been. like this is sort of a deep cut so idk how relatable it is, but i remember i would be at the mall in middle school at dELiA*s (who remember!! lmao) looking at their wall of band shirts seeing like the killers, kings of leon, etc thinking shit like, "i dont understand why spoons not up here or why i dont hear them on the radio and people dont know who im talking about when i mention them, but all thats true of these bands. but spoon is better than all these bands is the thing. with the same amount of appeal imo" ...like maybe in a less sophisticated and more annoying middle schooler way, but that sentiment. and i still feel that way! and i get that that is justifiably said of soooo many groups and musicians, truly, across all genres. art and creative fields in general really. but with spoon i think about it especially not just because im particularly sentimental about their work, but also bc i truly feel like they have a really broad appeal. i mean their songs end up on the soundtracks of all sorts of films and tv episodes bc theyre good, they capture a mood, they just have that oomph that a scene needs. but theyre just not very well known. a blessing and a curse i figure, feels like theyll never get the respect and clout theyve rightfully earned for their artistry which is a bit crazymaking but otoh theres allll sorts of downsides and indignities to fame 🥄

exactly like they really do have a Commercial Appeal (pun intended) and they truly do have a wide spread of genres covered, and covered well. it’s interesting they never cracked outside of their scene given they really well could have given the rise of indie rock/pop/general alternative adjacent scene in the main charts. and as you mentioned, they did have a lot of boosts in media that actually helped to catapult a lot of their contemporaries, it just seemed they never managed to bubble above the surface.

tangent after the cut sorry spoon-anon but i have A LOT on my mind. hopefully u stick w me thru this and get where i’m coming from (tho im sure u do)

however, what i mean w cult-status is like in reference to some of their contemporaries like the national, interpol and a lot of the NY scene when i think about it – sort of being viewed as these cult like bands with an actual document of their history straight from the go in some cases.

as u would know spoon has this unique story to them that makes them perfect fodder for this for anybody else reading below the cut: band releases a well received debut album on a cult label (matador), leaves them for a major to release a lauded follow up that does terribly sales wise and gets thrown to the dogs like meat straight afterwards due to horrible mismanagement but somehow defy that and go on to continue to release some of the most critically acclaimed albums of the last 20 years despite the fact they may as well had just given the fuck up.

if that had happened to any of those NY-adjacent bands i feel the history would have been covered so much different if that makes sense? like they’d have somebody down there in the trenches with the band covering this shit for a low quality documentary that’d be like the gospel for fans. imagine seeing footage of britt curled up at the times square hotel pay phones he would call up his lawyer on during his 15 minute breaks at citibank lol trying to shop rough copies of girls can tell to labels because he was that hellbent on getting it released. you can only imagine it because it doesn’t exist!! if it was any other critically acclaimed blog era-band it probably would exist!! hell any kind of proper document of any of their post-sneaks albums would have been so fucking good and so deserved. i feel all we really know about them is merely just crumbs in general as a band imo and a lot of good preservation just doesn’t seem to exist at all. like yeah we have the decent oral history of gimme fiction but i kinda want that for the whole band more thoroughly? i like knowing things! i want some sort of meet me in the bathroom kind of coverage of them. i want them to be respected for the band that they are because they are just that good and utterly destroy their contemporaries in terms of output AND consistent critical acclaim. kinda mad at myself for putting them in the back of my mind for almost decade smh 😔

still i just feel they don’t get even close to enough love or respect from people although their contemporaries are regarded as darlings and have devout groups of fans and that stuff. a good majority of them probably have no fucking idea who spoon are even though the band themselves have probably done something with them or have heard of the band in passing/other media. with all that considered, it’s all very strange to me how they’ve just ended up being some band from austin. maybe that’s just how it was meant to be. i’m not sure.

EDDIIT: i just realized after that last post that arcade fire was actually given more light than hell by merge than spoon were when they were literally on the same label like um where the FUCK was that level of attention for them when they were literally both on par with each other quality wise musically and critically like hello?????? what's up with THAT... much to fucking think about also fuck win butler btw.

[butterscotch-brigade]

the Mario Movie Post

ok SO heres a more expansive post listing my Thoughts on the mario movie. HUGE spoiler warning under the cut btw

it was....good! i keep comparing it to the sonic movies in my head bc thats what ive seen a lot of other ppl doing, and i think, compared to those movies, this one is a “safer” adaptation of the source material; and ofc this isnt an inherently good or bad thing, but it may influence ur opinion if u were expecting a more derivative adaptation like the sonic movies, which take more risks and creative liberties. id rank the mario movie below sonic 2 (the greatest movie of all time btw), but idk if id put it above or below sonic 1; ultimately, like i said, it depends on whether u prefer the adaptation thats “safer” or “riskier” in terms of what its trying to accomplish.

anyway, here r some things i rly liked abt the movie!! warning for me gushing abt bowser bc im in love with him btw ASDLJKADS

bowser is the greatest character in the entire thing ofc. not surprising at all ASLKJDSLKJDS my big beautiful monster husband he is SOOOO GOOOODDD like.....hes the most expressive, full of personality, and jack black gives an AMAZING performance as him. his fucking song???? the princess peach love song??? beautiful. lovely. i love bowser so fucking much......like yeah he “kidnaps people” and “tries to kill innocents” or whatever but errmmm he does it in the name of love so its ok uwu my big strong cuddly ferocious teddy bear i love him I LOVE HIIMMMMM KLASJDKLJASDLKJ HES SO PERFECT HES A SWEET LOVEY DOVEY DORK BUT HES ALSO FUCKED UP EVIL AND POWERFUL AND WILLING TO CRUSH ANYONE WHO STANDS IN HIS WAY GOOOODDDDD I WANT HIM SO BAD

animation is gorgeous, including the environments and character models. say what u want abt illumination but u have to admit their actual animation game is pretty damn good and this film is no exception

i rly appreciate all the references and easter eggs! i like how they used music from the games in various ways, and how they incorporated the different worlds/levels.

i LOVE the little additional bits of lore they added!!! ive been a huge Mario Lore Enthusiast pretty much since i first learned how to use the internet so this was very satisfying to my autistic brain ALSKJLKDASJ

as far as specific lore elements go, i loved getting to see mario and luigi’s parents (+ extended family!!!). u dont understand for the longest time the only CANON picture we had of mario and luigis parents were these images from the end of yoshis island ASKLDJSLAKDJ so im very happy we got more detailed designs for them

i love the backstory they gave princess peach!! ive always wondered why she rules the mushroom kingdom despite not being a toad. i hope they expand on her story more if they ever make a second movie bc i think it would be rly interesting to know more abt where she came from!!

i LOOOVE the kongs so so much......ty mario movie for finally ending the debate abt whether or not dk is cranky kongs son or grandson SALKJDALKSJ also i love dk’s characterization in this too, his friendly rivalry w mario was rly funny

i love love LOOOVVE the sibling dynamic between mario and luigi. Bro They Are Bros

i like the incorporation of the power-ups and how they work

king bob-omb is there. i like him :)

and now for some criticisms (note that these r all pretty minor, there wasnt rly anything i Disliked abt the movie which is admittedly more than i can say abt the first sonic movie actually LKSAJLKD):

a lot of the characters just kinda felt flat, especially compared to bowser who has the most personality. luigi is the only one i can think of who has any kind of significant “arc.” peach, toad, and dk dont rly have any kind of significant character growth, while mario’s arc is just kinda....He Learns To Get Better At Fighting And Navigating The Mushroom Kingdom i guess. to be fair mario games in general arent rly known for focusing on character development (w some exceptions like the rpgs, but none of that development is rly focused on mario himself), but that ultimately just made this movie’s writing pale in comparison to the sonic movies (which arent perfect (except for the second one) but still)

luigi didnt rly do much throughout the whole thing.....i liked him a lot in the beginning, but he spends most of the movie being captured. i DID like the fight scene at the end where mario and luigi team up to beat the shit out of bowser tho!! i just wish we got to spend a little more time with luigi so his arc had a more satisfying conclusion

Why didnt they credit grant kirkhope for the dk rap. wtf nintendo/illumination

but yeah those r my Thoughts. overall it was a pretty good movie, id maybe give it like....7/10? 7.5/10? it wasnt Great but it was good. definitely better than the Other mario movie thats for sure LKASJFLKJS

[caseyogdenart]

CONTENT WARNING: SELF HARM

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For week 4: Text and Image, I wanted to get a bit personal with my thoughts, beliefs, motivations and avolitions.

For my first idea i thought of having two naked people holding hands above the centre of the page, heads leaning away from each other with a leg bowed each in opposite directions and other hands outstretched in a dance like pose. Their faces would be hanging off and their outstretched hand also having its skin coming off, with the words "We are Naught but Meat". While it is a disturbing thought, i find it quite a sobering one in an acceptance of life and death sort of way. Its almost as if it relieves pressure from what i do and as i mention in previous weeks, i have problems with putting too much pressure on myself, so if im nothing but meat then whats stopping me from enjoying my time before i begin to rot. The idea for this came from a Youtuber called nyx fears, I blame her for my current mental state in a positive way because listening to her talk about horrendous things feels like a collective grief of the ways we used to think. While i don't reccomend watching her talk about disturbing media, she has many horror movie reviews that i can reccomend.

For my final idea (shown below) it came from a spur of the moment epiphany that i can translate any negative emotions i am feeling in the moment into drawing. At the time of making this piece i had the urge to hurt myself more than i have done in years and it felt unbearable. The drawings i created captures the emotion of wanting to cut (personally). It is graphic and i imagine triggering to others who have dealt with self harm but it felt so freeing to let confront my demons so to speak.

For the first drawing I added the sentence "Our Emotions Get the Better of us Sometimes, Thats Human" as i am a firm believer in humanity in a personal sense. I believe everything people do is a part of coming to terms with our own existence and sometimes we let our emotions and personal lives bleed into our professional work (as signified posthumously with this piece and critically looking at my own raw feelings). People cope in different ways, some more healthy than others, but i also believe that humans as a species is not well equipped with the crushing weight that sentience brings and because of this i hope that we can come to accept each other.

The addition of the "thoughts, beliefs, motivations and avolitions." on the second drawing came about during my idea generation of what i wanted to say going out of hand and creating so many sentences that resonated with me, so i recorded all of them with another reflection of my own self harming thoughts.

And finally i wanted to finish on a quick positive note with the inclusion of the thing thats currently bringing me the most joy, some cheap breast forms i purchased with the words "a lifeline takes many forms" which is an unintentional play on words, it was only a quick drawing but it helped calm me down after letting out my emotions for a few hours so i thought i would include it in my final submission.

Due to it being so personal, the topic of mental health means a lot to me. So the last thing i want others to take away from these drawings is shock value, i do not wish to offend anyone with this depiction. This is a personal piece so i understand if this is upsetting to others and thats also okay. This was my personal way of coping and i thought that capturing and immortalising itself to me as one of the first things i submitted to my falmouth course, an important piece of me that i can finally externalise after years of feeling constricted While i don't think i have properly put how much this piece means to me in words i am proud of the fact that i made it. (Also i used pen in my art for the first time, its permanence scares me).

Completed 14th October 2022