#ip precedents

[maitsuki]

double vertigo - a reflection on the precedents

[GIF: アキラ Akira, Dir. Otomo Katsuhiro]

For the most part, I feel very fortunate to live in modern times. I enjoy technology, science, and medicine. I am very thankful that I'm able to stay in good health and access information. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to not have plumbing, phones, or doctors.

However, I can all too easily imagine what it would be like if technology and modernization took control. Not necessarily an AI takeover, but something more subtle. The disappearance of physical media. Cash becoming obsolete. AI taking more jobs away from humans. We're already seeing this occur and start to impact our lives. I'm only afraid that we are too late to stop it.

Medical science is what I fear more than just going cashless or DVDs going obsolete. "Designer babies" may not be a hot topic in my friend circles, but is a prime example of medical science that seems innovative and useful, but could easily be used unethically. One moment you're screening for terminal illnesses in an embryo, the next you are choosing hair, eye color, or skin color. How far do we let it go? This is the premise for the film "Gattaca", which is one of my precedent projects. It depicts a world in which genetic selection is a routine process for embryos, resulting in a society run on eugenics and full of genetic discrimination.

My idea for this project is to explore a narrative in which humanity has highly revolutionized sound therapy. It began as a search for the cure to vertigo and motion sickness, and ended with a society where sound is something used to control. And the technology has been made too accessible. Now individuals protect their ears in public spaces. Society was forever changed, all because someone wanted find the cure for a common illness.

The idea still needs some work, however the main point with this concept is to explore the dangers of innovative technology in medical science. Because even though I am a firm believer of finding cures and researching and innovating, I can easily see where it could go awry.

[daughter-of-sapph0]

list of users gone because of scortched earth

partyjockers: for pointing out that there are hairy potty fans on staff and making the connection that it's the reason trans women keep getting flagged as mature

iamdealwithit: for pointing out that tumblr live literally steals your data and ip address and sells it to advertisers and the police back in December 29th of 2022, and was active up until seven hours ago today (September 5 2023) because that post started circulating again

both these people had the images from their post completely erased, their blogs completely wiped, and in partyjockers case the original post was wiped from the history of the site as well as any reblogs.

it's very strange that this has only happened twice to my knowledge and it only occurs when people point put staff's complete ineptitude and active malice towards it's userbase.

anyway screenshot this post just incase they start getting trigger happy. once is absolutely horrible censorship and should never fucking happen. twice sets a precedent that they will use this again.

[familyabolisher]

I've walked past the Barbie branded selfie booth, sat through the reel of old commercials that precede the previews, and watched Margot Robbie learn to cry, and I’m still not sure what “doing the thing and subverting the thing,” which Greta Gerwig claimed as the achievement of Barbie in a recent New York Times Magazine profile, could possibly mean. This was the second Gerwig profile the magazine has run. I wrote the first one, in 2017, which in hindsight appears like a warning shot in a publicity campaign that has cemented Gerwig’s reputation as so charming and pure of heart that any choice (we used to call them compromises) she makes is justified, a priori, by her innocence. This is a strange position for an adult to occupy, especially when the two-hour piece of branded content she is currently promoting hinges on a character who discovers that her own innocence is the false product of a fallen world. But—spoiler alert!—the point of Barbie’s “hero’s journey” is less to reconcile Barbie to death than to reconcile the viewer to culture in the age of IP.

“Doing the thing and subverting the thing”: I haven’t finished working out the details, but I think the rough translation would be Getting rich and not feeling feel bad about it. (Or, for the viewer: Having a good time and not feeling bad about it.) One must labor under a rather reduced sense of the word “subvert” to be impressed with poking loving fun at product misfires such as Midge (the pregnant Barbie), Tanner (the dog who poops), and the Ken with the earring, especially given that the value of all these collectors’ items has, presumably, not decreased since the film opened. Barbie may feature a sassy tween sternly informing Robbie’s Stereotypical Barbie that the tiny-waisted top-heavy billion-dollar business she represents has made girls “feel bad” about themselves, but if anyone uttered the word “anorexia,” I missed it. (There was a reason Todd Haynes told the story of Karen Carpenter’s life and death with Barbies, and it wasn’t because an uncanny piece of molded plastic has the magical power to resolve the contradictions of girlhood and global capitalism.) There’s a bit about Robbie going back into a box in the Mattel boardroom, but Barbies aren’t made in an executive suite; they come from factories in China. On the one hand, it’s weird for a film about a real-world commodity to unfold wholly in the realm of ideas and feelings, but then again, that’s pretty much the definition of branding. Mattel doesn’t care if we buy Barbie dolls—they’re happy to put the word “Barbie” on sunglasses and T-shirts, or license clips from the movie for an ad for Google. OK, here’s my review: When Gerwig first visited Mattel HQ in October 2019, the company’s stock was trading at less than twelve dollars a share. Today the price is $21.40. 

Christine Smallwood, Who Was Barbie?

[carlyraejepsans]

"tee-hee op that's because—" you look me in the eye and tell me that would stop people. we used to be a nation

what obtuse series of world changing events converged to alter fate in 2011 so that ghost trick didn't spawn a tumblr sexyman

[demilypyro]

The original Team Fortress was a mod for I'd Software's online arena shooter Quake. Valve took notice of the mod's popularity and hired the developers to create a full game in their GoldSource engine. This was Team Fortress Classic, which eventually got a sequel in Team Fortress 2. This precedent indeed set the stage for other mods, such as Gmod and Counter-Strike, to be legitimized by Valve.

This all mirrors similar events surrounding the Dota mod for Warcraft 3, though Blizzard failed to capitalize on the opportunity offered by its modding scene and did not end up acquiring the Dota IP like Valve acquired Team Fortress, which eventually led to Valve creating Dota 2 while Blizzard made Heroes of the Storm, and competitor Riot created League of Legends.

[vampyre-daisies]

I've kept so many of my thoughts on this era in the drafts for fear of being labelled a 'hater' and being bullied out of the fandom, but everything I've feared and expected and complained about, it's all been crystallized in The Reality War.

I say this as someone who adores this show, who has held it close to my heart for as long as I can remember, as a Flux defender, as a Clara apologist, as a classic and nuwho fan, as a pronoun having, protest sign wielding leftist, and with the deepest of wishes for the show to be better. I HATE this era.

We need NEW voices, we need RTD and his cliquey upper management out, we need a writers room where creatives can share and workshop ideas not some singular self-styled "genius" who doesn't share his plans with anyone until the day he hands in the script. We need redrafts, not first drafts (by Russells own admission many of his scripts are released as first drafts). We need lower budgets, because when the show is made to minimise on expensive spectacle it is forced to carry itself on the quality of its writing.

The criticism that the show is too full of its own history has been characterised by some as hollow because 'every era references the shows past'. But the problem here is framing and purpose. Russell has explicitly stated his GOAL is to 'generate content' and 'social media storytelling'. Every few episodes need the big REVEAL. To the point that by Wish World I personally felt literally NOTHING at the Omega reveal. Something that had it happened a few years ago I'd have been thrilled about, I left the episode numb. Because we had Midnight, Fugitive!Doctor, Susan, The Rani, Poppy and Rogue in the previous four episodes alone. Most of which are framed with flashbacks and the grand 'moment of reveal' and audience teasing, and I just knew they'd never pay off satisfyingly, they're there for the sharable moment on social media.

Both season big baddies this era are defeated by a random laser beam with no established precedent. It's Davies-ex-Machina at its worst, The Last of the Time Lords is my least favourite finale for this exact reason (among many more reasons) but even that at least SET UP the means of its big reset.

Answer me honestly WHY Omega was in this episode. Because he doesn't tangibly DO anything, either thematically or narratively. The Rani's scheme could have been to summon a giant ham sandwich and the plot would have been unchanged. The reason it was Omega was because RTD wanted people to post about it and go 'Wow Thing I Know' and get a million headlines like 'Doctor Who Just Did Something CRAZY'. Omega is reduced to a big CGI monster with less than 5 minutes screen time because he isn't Omega, the interesting villain with motivations of his own, he is simply a vehicle for the name recognition of Omega.

This is Doctor Who as content. As IP. It is the MCU, or Star Wars, or any number of modern franchises, where the 'big return' and references come first and the plot is thought up around making them happen not the other way round.

This is just scratching the surface of the problems, not mentioning the hollow corporate politics that are a thousand steps back from where the show was in the Capaldi run. The botched messaging on extremely important topics that come across bordering on straight up right wing. The failings of consistent characterisation. The ways in which Kate Stewart keeps doing deeply deeply fucked up things (excuse me you MICROCHIP and TRACK your employees, some of which are MINORS???) and the Doctor refuses to comment. The narrative failings of season arcs. The way so many of RTD's scripts this era are direct retreads of episodes he already wrote. The endless behind the scenes nightmares. The eight episode seasons being fundamentally a bad fit for a show with this core premise. I could go on for hours.

There have been great episodes in this era, just as there have been in every era. But on the whole this has been one of the deepest low points for me. I love Ncuti, I love Millie and Varada and the whole cast and I will miss those that are leaving dearly... this is not their fault. But if the show gets cancelled (which it WONT, it will return to being low budget) I will not mourn it. It has been dead to me for some time.

Sack Russell T Davies. Sack Julie Gardner. Sack Jane Tranter. Sack Phil Collinson. Sack everyone who has led to this era of ouroborosing the shark.

Stefan Powell can stay <3 ily bbgrl - keep pestering the folks on set

[pinkydragon01]

Nintendo vs Pocket Pair is worse than you think

When Palworld came out, it took the gaming world by storm and became an instant hit with players who enjoy a mixture of creature collecting and survival base building. However, when a new game stirs up this much publicity, it catches both positive *and* negative attention.

There's no question about how similar Pals look to Pokemon, and there's much debate over the authenticity around Palworld's model designs. So much so, people were raising alarm to Nintendo to investigate Pocket Pair for IP infringement. Which Nintendo responded with a lukewarm, "We'll look into it."

After months of silence, Nintendo has now come forward with a lawsuit against Pocket Pair, but not for what we thought. The lawsuit is not about creature design, it's over *patent infringement.*

The patent in question is specifically over the mechanic of allowing the player to perform "an action of launching" to either "catch a field character or cause a fighting character to fight against a field character."

In simple words, the very act of throwing an item to capture a creature, or to summon a creature to fight another.

This mechanic is fundamental to nearly ALL creature collecting games.

Regardless of your personal feelings regarding Palworld vs Pokemon, this hopefully sounds wrong to you. This legal battle is little more than a billion dollar juggernaut swinging down their hammer onto an indie studio. It doesn't matter Pals *look* like pokemon. It DOES matter that they are demanding absolute control over creature collecting mechanics.

The patent in question does not even care if the item is sphere shaped like a pokeball. The item used for capture is irrelevant in this extremely broad patent.

Ultimately, Palworld is caught in this because of the massive attention it got, and this lawsuit is setting a deeply disturbing precedent. This lawsuit says, "If you look like a competitor to us, we'll sue you for daring to try."

And that's a danger to all creature collecting games, not just Palworld.

[maitsuki]

nocturnal grid - a reflection on the precedents

[GIF: 아가씨 The Handmaiden, Dir. Park Chan-wook]

Growing up in a digital age where many people discuss politics and social issues online, I have seen a lot of different political opinions over the years. My family is considerably liberal, with some conservative views popping up here and there.

That being said, I would mostly attribute my political and moral beliefs to personal experiences from my childhood. Such as growing up in poverty, biracial Black and white, and a woman. I believe this opened my eyes to the unfairness and inequity in the world.

Seeing my family members struggling also "radicalized" me so to speak. I had close family members who were victims of CSA. My dad has been legally blind his whole life. The list goes on.

All this to say, I was well aware of our country's shortcomings long before the year 2016 or 2020. Even though I benefit from being an American citizen in certain ways, such as passport or not living in war zones, I vehemently oppose colonialism, imperialism, and war.

I don't feel conflicted about my opposition to them, but I do feel conflict over how I am privileged as a United States citizen. I don't have to live in active war zones, where people are getting blown up by bombs and drone strikes. Their lives destroyed.

I would love it if the United States military was less funded. I hate that my tax dollars go towards killing people, especially innocent people. At the same time, I like not living in fear of drone strikes. I do feel a sense of protection knowing that is highly unlikely.

I want to examine this dichotomy in my project. Which is why I chose precedent projects that feature themes of colonialism, imperialism and war implicitly and explicitly.

For example, Eight Views of Korea and Cotopaxi are the implicit ones.

Eight Views of Korea is woodblock print created by Kawase Hasui. It is a beautiful landscape depicting Gyeonghoeru Pavilion. However, it was created during Japan's colonization of Korea. It is hard to only focus on the beauty knowing the darker implications of the piece.

Cotopaxi is an oil painting by Frederic Edwin Church in 1862. It depicts a stunning sunset on the active volcano, Cotopaxi, in Ecuador. I was enamored by it when I was able to see it in person at the DIA. However, researching it further, I found that Church was a part of the Hudson River School. A group of landscape painters who painted the Americas in the 19th century. Their goals were to portray three themes: discovery, exploration and settlement.

This goes to show that there is a sinister side to a lot of the art we admire.

[mortalityplays]

I love the practice of requisitioning, remixing and reworking books, comics, movies etc. through any means you like, but I hate hate hate the way so much vocabulary that used to be rooted in individual creativity has been taken over by this kind of fucked up deference to mainstream publishing and ip.

easy example: everyone calls the characters they work up for their projects 'OCs' now. that genie is out of the bottle, I'm not even going to try and cram it back in. it's universal terminology. but I do want to reflect - why is the default position to assume that when someone says 'my characters' they mean something derivative, unless they specify 'my Original characters'?

similarly, all character relationships are 'ships'. but what's wrong with that? you say, it's just short for 'relationship'. and you would be right, by merit of completely ignoring the fandom ancestry and common understanding of that term in order to win an argument. because you know as well as I do that 'ships' aren't 'relationships', they're hypothetical romances that the speaker is rooting for. so why do I keep seeing people talk about shipping their OCs? why is a hypothetical relationship entertained and enjoyed by the creator of the work described using fan terminology?

I have for real no joke seen people talk about their 'headcanons' for their own characters, in their own stories. that's not a headcanon babe, that's canon!!! that's YOUR WORK. moreover, why are we even talking about the canonicity of your personal original writing? this isn't the star wars extended universe, why are international franchise IPs setting the baseline for the relationship you have with your writing and the terminology you use to conceptualise it?

tbc this is not a 'fandom brainrot' post. because I don't think it's fanwork that's the root of the problem. I think it's the insidious creep of capitalism and the ever more draconian weaponisation of copyright law that has rewritten our capacity for talking about creative work so that it revolves at all times around ownership and precedent. there is a deep learned anxiety about describing fictional works as fictional properties, that echoes in our vocabulary as we constantly make clear what is owned and what is not, what has been established on the record and what exists in the realm of speculation.

the reason 'fandom brainrot' is such a compeling stand-in for this issue is that it's really just one step downstream from all that voracious rent-seeking behaviour by publishers. if the only things you ever read or watch are in the milieu of those franchise copyright lawyers, that is the understanding of fiction-as-property you develop. if you're not exposed to a broader spectrum of art and artists, living and dead, who talk about their work as work - as expression, as experimentation, as a personal process and as a shared space with their audience - you will quickly be alienated from your own creative practice by design.

the point i want to make is this: going off the beaten track, exploring outside the franchises and bestsellers and box office babies, is not just a matter of good taste. imo it is a necessary act of solidarity with artists who still live, work and speak as individuals. it's a healthier environment for you as an artist. you deserve a relationship with your own work, not a ship.

[read-marx-and-lenin]

If training AI models doesn't count as transformative or otherwise fair use, if training a model can only be legally done with data you have the rights to, then that kills open source genAI and limits AI training to large corporations with the ability to purchase and own large amounts of training data. Disney does not want to kill Midjourney because they care about plagiarism or labor rights or even copyright infringement. Disney wants to kill Midjourney because they want to set a precedent wherein they can license out their data to the AI companies that they are trying to replace their workers with. They want to extract more profit out of the IP they own while simultaneously investing in tools that could lower costs down the line.

We could have a world where artists and hobbyists and programmers and engineers all work together to create genAI tools that enhance and augment human creativity, where new tools don't threaten to replace humans but are instead used for the benefit of all. But so long as the bourgeoisie remain in control and art and media are treated as for-profit ventures, capitalists will be incentivized to screw over anyone who isn't trying to enclose the commons and milk IP for every cent.

[phaeton-flier]

If you really think Disney's loss would be a net benefit, then you're just delusional. The current status quo for artists isn't great, but one where Big Tech wins isn't going to change conditions in favor of working artists. All it means is that the current king of the kingdom of the media industry will change, and one that has even less of an interest in the well-being and livelihoods of workers than even Disney.

If artistic freedom and innovation could coexist that'd be great, but they can't ina capitalist society without enormous costs to the working class. I don't like taking sides in corpo legal battles because of that, but eventually we all gotta take the poison anyway since it's not like we can opt-out. At least we can hope for the least bad scenario.

How do you think the precedent from this case is going to shake out? Do you really think they're going to make an extremely narrow ruling that bans generating AI Images and nothing else?

Or will Warner Brothers and Disney push for the idea that creating an image of a copyrighted character, or having any amount of copyrighted material upstream of your output means it's all infringement?

Consider the frankly horrid state of IP law with regard to music, where even a brief sample is considered infringement, where having a small snippet of a song playing during a video means they can claim it as theirs?

The end result of Disney winning isn't going to be the AI bottle going back in the bottle; it's going to be them and other major IP holders being able to train on only their large, private stock of copyrighted work; the advantage this will give them, to any upstart competition or over human artists, would be huge.

Disney does not have your best interests at heart. They never have and they never will.

What benefits do you imagine are going to trickle down to artists, if Warner Brothers gets their way? Because, again, this isn't going to get rid of AI models, isn't going to change the job market. It's just going to make current (IP) capital holders more entrenched.

[platinumsupa]

I really wanna emphasize I'm not pro-AI art, but in regards to Disney and Universal suing Midjourney, those companies ARE pro-AI! Disney has even used image generation in multiple of their big budget projects, these companies are deeply invested in AI and its success

so with this legal case, u gotta remember even if they do declare Midjourney's AI plagiarism and not protected by Fair Use, they are absolutely not going to do so in a way that would set a legal precedent that prevents them from AI training off OTHER people's content. they certainly have no interest in protecting the rights of small creators to use their ips even in a transformative way

[kanohivolitakk]

Honestly, for as much as the Masks of Power situation sucks, what frustrates me the most has to less to do with the project itself and more how this could impact future Bionicle-related fanprojects down the line.

So for a bit of background context, I'm a life-long Nintendo fan, and if you know anything about Nintendo you know that they're rather...draconian when it comes to copyright. In particular, they tend to be rather harsh with fangames, taking down games left, right and center. This has led Nintendo to gain a rather infamous reputation amongst transformative content creators: every time a notable Nintendo-related fanproject comes out people make "witty" comments of how said project will be C&D;d. Watch out, the Nintendo ninjas are going to get you, that sort of thing.

Thing is though, for as much as we meme on Nintendo being trigger-happy when it comes to fangames...that isn't exactly true. DGMW there's definitely precedent for this with how they have taken down notable projects such as AM2R, Pokemon Uranimium and Pixelmon, but said takedowns aren't as common as the reputation may lead you to believe. Nintendo doesn't take down every single project that may exist, they only take few and far in between.

But even if Nintendo's banhammer is greatly exgarrated, that doesn't lessen the impact it has in the minds of people. Whenever a notable project such as AM2R or Uranium gets C&D'd it sets the precident for other fangame developers. This could be happen to you if you aren't careful. Is it any wonder then thatt so many Nintendo fanprojects eventually shed their skin to become something original, as they fear the wrath of the big N taking away their hard-earned work.

So, with LEGO C&D:ing Masks of Power I dread it setting a similar precedent for Bionicle fans as it has for Nintendo fans. Heck, I already have seen people making Nintendo-comparasions in spite of the fact it is the first time something like this has happened regards to LEGO (there was the whole Duckbricks situation but I'd consider that it's own separate thing). So with that I wonder...could this kill the ambitious projects as whole? If something like this can happen to Masks of Power, arguably THE biggest and most popular fanproject, what abou any other project that reaches it's level? What does that say of other ambitious projects like The Mangai Project or Illiad, could they encounter a similar fate? What about projects that haven't beeen made yet, will this diccourage them from being made? It is a scary thought how this one situation could demotivate creators both old and new and that is scary. Especially since unlike with (most) Nintendo IPs that have been C&D'd in the past, Bionicle as an IP is pretty much dead. Ambitious fanprojects are one of the ways we keep it alive and if we stop making them, that will seriously damage the community down the line.

Of course you can just do what many nintendo fans have done, shed the Bionicle IP and do something original: the ex MoP devs are planning to do just that with the Rustbound project born of MoPs ashes. And I think there's merit for that, there's good in original spiritual succesors as there is with fanprojects honoring the legacy of the old. But that can't be the only way. Again, fanprojects are what keep Bionicle alive, and without it, the series is as good as dead, especially given how uninterested LEGO seems to be to revive it. That hole is something only fanprojects can fill, not spiritual successors.

There's also the fact that...not everything can be turned into an original story, no matter how much spiritual of a successor it is. Projects such as the Mangai Project, Illiad or Ide's Journey rely on the fact that they are transformaive fanprojects and can't be erased from tthose roots. Their core identity and appeal comes from their connection to Bionicle and how they play with that IP. Shredding those ties would just make the whole project pointless and lose a lot of it's depth and nuance, especially with the more intertwined or metafictious projecs. So while the "remove serial numbers and turn it to an original IP" may work for some projects, it may not work as well for others.

Admittely this whole situation scares me. One of the major reasovs I love the community as much as I do is how we keep Bionicle alive through these high-effort fanprojects. And for years, LEGO seemed if not supportive, at least neutral to our existence. So to have hat peaceful co-existence be broken could spell the end of the Bionicle fandom as we know i and I really don't want tht to happen. I love this community for being as ambitious and passionate as we are, and I don't want that passion to go away like it did (to an extent) with Nintendo fans.

[jesncin]

Hellblazer for Kids

I've already talked before about how a tonally authentic Hellblazer middle grade (or YA for that matter) isn't impossible at all once you recognize kids stories can actually cover a wide breadth of heavy topics too. I believe that even a character like John Constantine, whose "origin story" happens in Newcastle when he's more grown, still has stories to tell that precede that event.

Understand that “The Mystery of The Meanest Teacher- a Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel” went for the most commercially safe approach to "Kids' Hellblazer" for a lot of marketing and business reasons (kids horror graphic novels are a tough sell unless tied to a bestseller IP like fnaf/goosebumps, so they focused on humor, an american school setting, a Bailey School Kids or Teacher From the Black Lagoon approach, got a big name writer etc. they also went for the DCSHG approach where they basically shrunk John Constantine into a kid instead of talking about his childhood) but you don't need, like, sex/gore/swearing in order to tell a tonally authentic Hellblazer kids graphic novel.

Here, let me- a published middle grade graphic novel author- pitch you a "kids Hellblazer story" for fun:

John and Cheryl Constantine are sent to boarding school, think an oppressive setting like Miss Trunchbull's school in Matilda but with the whimsy of a haunted location like a manor by the sea. John and his sister have to take care of themselves but also uncover a nefarious occult plot orchestrated by the school principal- like a Series of Unfortunate Events vibe. John leads the charge and gets into trouble while Cheryl foils him as the one who "just wants to be a normal school kid". These two and their bond are the heart of the story as siblings who survived abuse together.

Add in John's ghost baby brother the Golden Boy haunting him as survivor twin angst. John notices the Golden Boy interacting with the ghosts of students who have long haunted the place (like Coraline [we don't acknowledge that author] missing ghost children, they have a terrifying quality like missing eyes or something to give the kids and their parents' nightmare fuel) and investigates.

There will be this overall theme of the principal allegorizing people in power abusing children to keep their systemic power, and framing marginalized people as unsafe to kids. Have a classic Hellblazer character like Ray Monde be a librarian (this will act as Hellblazer purist fans catnip or at least catnip to me) who John considers the only safe adult he can trust. All the kids and even adults spread rumors that Ray is a creep, but he's actually the kindest person there. Miss Honey type but drag queen.

John can have messy queer feelings like having a crush on a bully or whatever and Ray can be a guiding force that helps him figure stuff out. And probably say something gay that will get your book banned (is it a Hellblazer book if it isn't challenging society in some way)? Cheryl gets wrapped up in the occult plot as a victim and John has to save her.

It'll be a difficult read for how it talks about dark and mature topics (grief, abuse, internalized queer self hatred, etc.) while also being adventurous and fun. I can easily make you cry from a story like this.

[venonomnomicon]

like i dont want to come off as standoffish and rude and i completely understand why people say this shit about AI and copyright. but like. you need to take a step back and actually think about what you're saying and how massively reactionary it is. people will, with their chest, advocate that massive corporations (and small businesses lol) deserve the right to destroy peoples' lives over copyright infringements and that those people deserve it for stealing. and often back it up with claiming that there is a fucking divine precedent to it, that one side is literally sacred and using the soul while the other opposes that. like holy fuck. listen to yourself. your actual, DIRECTLY STATED position is that disney lawyers have the right to divinely smite people for "stealing" IP. come ON

[teatime-tangents-and-toys]

RESOLVED, but still please read!

Seeking information from licensed Skullector and other MH exclusive collectors! Please reblog to get more eyes on this--

1. Was Wednesday Addams in the set with Morticia actually the first revival of the G1 "little-sister" body sculpt like I assumed? Did Annabelle actually use it first? Are both Lydias on the sculpt, and not just the second? Betelegeuse uses the teen body, and black-hat Lydia looks shorter than her in a way the shoes don't seem responsible for.

EDIT: Have learned both Lydias and the Grady Sisters and Annabelle have the little sister body, making the Gradys the reintroduction of the sculpt! Thank you all!

2. Also, what body does the Dragon Queen have? Is she on the G1 big-sister body? Is she the first doll to revive the big-sister sculpt?

EDIT: Someone has vouched that she has the big-sister body.

3. I know Elvira ultimately never got her proper boobs, but can someone confirm which body Elvira v1 actually has? I thought she preceded the return of the big-sis body and was on the mid-teen sculpt, but maybe she wasn't quite so wrong as that? Pictures of v1 and v2 didn't obviously look different body-wise and v2/Comic-Con variant uses the big-sis body.

Have learned Elvira v1 is on the big-sister body so Mattel wasn't completely wrong, and she seems to be the reintroduction point!

In summation thus far, the post-G1, G1-style, new characters' body type lineup seems to be:

Mid-teen body type ("default"):

* Pennywise

* Betelgeuse v1 and v2

* Greta Gremlin (reuses some G1 Jinafire sculpts)

* Bride of Frankenstein (I am so mad she didn't get the big-sis sculpt)

* Dracula

* Sally

* Creature from the Black Lagoon (reuses some G1 Jinafire sculpts, just like Greta)

* Sarah Sanderson

* Netflix Wednesday Addams dolls and Enid Sinclair

* Looks like Adelaide Wilson and Red will be

* Emily the Corpse Bride? Or will she be our first divergent big-sister body?

* non-IP dolls: Lenore Loomington and Corazón Marikit use this body type, though Corazón has very unique molds to split her torso apart.

Little-sister:

* Grady sisters (reintroduction of the body type post-G1)

* Lydia Deetz v1 and v2

* Annabellle

* Chucky and Tiffany (makes sense; I'd assumed they were on the standard frame!)

* Wednesday Addams (non-Netflix)

* M3GAN

(And all this before Mattel ever used it to bring back G1 Twyla or Howleen! G1 Twyla finally comes back with her SDCC Sweet Screams doll, shortly after M3GAN!)

Big sister:

* Elvira v1, v2, and Comic-Con v2 variant (doesn't do justice to the most famous breasts in horror, but at least it's something--v1 is the doll that brought back the sculpt. While I've heard the v1 doll had a mid-teen torso connected to big-sister limbs, or smaller breasts than big-sister size, I found a picture of the v1 doll undressed and she looked to be all big-sister and it wasn't a mid-teen torso. While we can accurately say Mattel downplayed her breasts and sex appeal, we can't accuse them of picking less than the largest-breasted torso available from premade sculpts.)

* RuPaul Dragon Queen (not Skullector but still of note)

* Morticia Addams

(Elvira V1, RuPaul, and Morticia all before a G1 return used it--Mummy Majesties Nefera!)

* The Lost Boys doll (oops, can't call her David 'cause we just couldn't make a boy doll-)

Standard G1 masc body sculpt

* Witch Weaver (not the reintroduction; Valentine Deuce brought it back first, then Valentine Clawd and Creepro Deuce)

Ever After High boy body-yes, really!

* Frankenstein's Monster (has bolts in the neck and new hands, but yes, using the old EAH sculpts was Mattel's way of making him tall and bulky!)

Jack Skellington body

* Yes, you guessed it: Jack Skellington (fully unique character-specific sculpts and proportions, debuted on this doll)

Chubby body sculpt with larger breasts--did not exist during G1

* Winifred Sanderson (body debut with Mary)

* Mary Sanderson (body debut with Winifred)

Chubby body sculpt with smaller breasts, very close to the former sculpt--did not exist during G1

* Young-hee (body debut)

Thanks for your help gathering information! Please correct me if anything else is wrong!