#love the shorthand of this show

[hoelko]

ok, i have a thought and maybe others have already had this thought but i just had it

Supposedly LBD foresaw her destiny, she saw and claimed without a doubt, that she would achieve her perfection.

we all know she wanted that perfect world where nothing bad happens, etc. And that's what she gets. Nothing.

To me then...her preminition, her destiny came true. She's in this "clean slate" state of being, this nothingness where, feasibly, this is the perfection she desired.

I mean the episode is titled Destiny Fulfilled.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Hey, Star Trek Writers... -taps the glass-

[1randomperson15]

I find it so funny that the build from the guess the build series that has (by far!) the most reach and reoccurrences is made by infamously the worst builder in the group

[musichawkposts]

After reading Chapter 13 of Jojolands I think all arguments that it's transphobic can be reasonably disregarded (reading comprehension? in my jojo fandom?) but I do understand other criticisms about it tackling sexual assault (especially of trans youth) in a way that's callous and tasteless. However, I feel like this can be resolved by these facts:

Discussion of sexual assault (especially of trans youth) is a topic that requires subtlety, complexity, and nuance.

Hirohiko Araki is the creator of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

[neunhofferart]

Storyboard samples from Seasons 5-8 of The Croods: Family Tree! I got to board so many fun sequences on this show... it was really difficult to squeeze a reel into just 2 minutes ToT

[itsonlypolite]

i know it's actually a pretty common thing in the fandom, but i LOVE the masks you give the voices, and in case i ever actually show my designs for the voices anywhere, could i snitch the mask idea for contrarian? i've been struggling trying to figure out what kind of head accessory i want to give him, and a beak that's not a real beak is just too perfect! i'd kinda like to give him a mask like the one your Cold has, i love the shape of that one

First off, thank you so much!!

Secondly, of course! It'd be pretty hypocritical of me if I said no considering how much of my designs are inspired by other people's. I'm super excited to see your voice designs now!!

[zincbart]

Do you know who else needed help moving this weekend?

[the-everqueen]

Because I am incapable of not bugging you, apparently - what’s one kink you think these characters are *not* into: Pierce, Gabby, Mendez, Rose, Good Doctor

Pierce is the only one i don't headcanon as a dom or switch...i think Rose COULD be a switch but it depends on the partner/dynamic. i'm also open to being sold on any of these scenarios, or other HCs, this is just based on what the spirit tells me when i'm writing my own fic lmao.

Pierce: anything where Pierce has to share. specifically anything like a threesome or foursome where the implication is that everyone is enjoying the sex with multiple partners. i think Pierce wouldn't be *overjoyed* for a dozen Reavers to run train on him, but if a partner asked and then held him sweetly during?? he'd do it. meanwhile if a partner asked for a threesome i think Pierce would be stewing in a fit of jealousy and anxiety the whole time, even if he initially agreed. that man is SO monogamous.

Gabby: hm, i feel like Gabby would dislike NOT being the one to inflict pain on her partner in an established scene. e.g., one of those kink parties where you invite other people to hit/whip/spank your sub, or even a "free use" kind of scenario. i think she and Pierce have "control issues" in common and this usually translates to her guiding the action, whether or not she's on top. but PARTICULARLY in a situation where there's some kind of physical punishment, she wants to be the one enacting it.

Mendez: this man is so sweetly down for anything, bless his heart (affectionate). i think he would not particularly *enjoy* cage/crate play: restricting space and access like that wouldn't be fun in the same way that ropes or handcuffs are, and mostly it makes him sad for reasons he doesn't interrogate. if he's gonna make sure Pierce can't move, he also wants to be able to touch/hold/pet/fuck him.

Rose: i think Rose would balk at a 24/7 TPE. functionally this is what Dream has unwittingly signed her up for in LA guard dog 'verse, but i think regardless of scenario Rose would be uncomfortable with having that much control over another person--both because of her experiences as a Black woman AND because she already has so many responsibilities that it'd be overwhelming for her to be constantly in that headspace. i think Rose needs the mental separation between "kink" and "regular life," even if functionally kink sometimes bleeds into her daily life (as i imagine is inevitable with the Corinthian), and she also needs space to process Dom(me) drop with her partner. just like it's good for her confidence and pleasure to flex power in a situation where she doesn't have to prove/justify herself, i think it's also probably good for her to get a break from being everything to everyone.

Good Doctor: piss kink. she thinks it's unhygienic and a sign of pathetic insecurity. also what's the point of marking "your" territory with something that could get washed off? leave permanent scars or don't talk to her.

[sysig]

Horse girl arc (Patreon)

[waywardsalt]

hiiii i snapped again long rant abt totk's shit story under the cut

i hate totk's story so fucking much this was going to be a much longer post but i do not care i hate how it relies so much on the player already giving a damn and hardly does any work to make you care any more, i hate how link's sheer lack of any indication of how he feels about anything beyond basic reactions to his environment just makes him feel like a nothing character in the story, i hate how zelda was sanded down to be just perfect and inoffensive and dutiful, i hate how sonia literally existed to motivate rauru and zelda, i hate how ganondorf, despite having the most interesting animations and being the most entertaining character, had such nebulous motivations and lackluster connection to the actual world he's in, i hate how any character arc that existed was so vapid and shallow, i hate how it seemed so afraid to do literally anything complicated with its themes or characters, i hate how nothing important changed in any meaningful way, i hate how fucking insulting it feels when it's come after stories like ocarina of time, majora's mask, twilight princess, skyward sword, wind waker, pretty much any of the other fucking zelda games and is fucking $70 and yet its story and characters just feel worse than anything that came before it. i watched the scene of link and zelda meeting back up for the first time in skyward sword and the emotion from both link and zelda and the sense of history between them the dialogue manages to communicate and how it relates back to the rest of the story and while i loved it it also just made me so mad how this game's hd version came out before totk and totk just was so much fucking worse despite all of this proof that they could do otherwise

[cherrysnax]

actually one last thing. when I was like 16-20 I thought I was soooo cool for being able to draw faces without guidelines and it’s like. Bud. Buddy. Broski. the characters eyes are so far apart you couldn’t even tell they’re on the same face

[late-draft]

One, two, three... a couple of moments in narrative, or all of them viewed isolated, could be called "misinterpretation" and "an incurable case of shipping goggles" but when the events start piling up and staying consistent between each other, every new one adds context to the previous events.

Zuko keeps Katara's necklace for 10 episodes? Oh it's a plot device so he can track them. Zuko steadies Katara so she doesn't fall off of the shirshu? Oh anyone would fall off of it while paralyzed. Katara jokes about giving a kiss to Zuko for the necklace? Oh she's uh... teasing Aang to whom this completely goes over head? Iroh keeps encouraging annoying love songs during music nights on the ship? Oh it's typical content for sailors. Zuko randomly recites cringe poetry after basically ending a fight in a draw against Katara while he's clearly running out of time? Oh it's the Rule of Cool. Katara randomly defends Zuko's hairstyle when Sokka insults it? She's uhh... defending Sokka's hairstyle even though Sokka didn't insult his own hairstyle (honestly I have no other explanation for this one). Katara is in Zuko's personal space 5 minutes after they started talking without being on opposing sides? She's uhh just that much empathetic. Zuko smiles at her on the very same day they let him stay near them? Uhhh... He waits an entire night awake to apologize to her? Uhh he's just a master manipulator hiding his selfish motives he's really sorry and would do this for anyone. Katara's glued to his side since their hug? Uhh she's empathetic. Zuko plants himself next to Katara during the play and won't budge? Uhh he's just socially unskilled (for now due to abuse) and does't quite understand what Aang wants from him. Zuko intercepts lightning for Katara in slow motion? It's the Rule of Cool again.

All of these things are true, but it's also true that when viewed as a whole... the narrative is portraying something. Reality is everything, the purposeful and the pointless. But theatrical stories pick and choose what to show, and we are taught how to interpret shorthands. Good writing won't have pointless or unconnected events. Neither is it smart to over-animate irrelevant actions.

And I purposefully didn't even list any of the symbolism or outside events that don't "originate" from the characters themselves (other than Iroh's actions because it's hilarious).

[wolfythewitch]

Hello! I wanted to say I love your Satan in the latest painting. Hooked noses are often used as a shorthand for Evil Untrustworthy Guy in a way that is... frustrating, but here Satan's just a cheerful guy! Just a cheerful little guy full of joie de vivre (although the French haven't been invented yet, of course). His entire deal is that he looks earnest and charming and like he's honestly offering you something that he thinks is neat! That man could be showing a neat rock or a three step plan to conquer Earth and either way I would be tempted to believe he has the best intentions. Peak design of all time I think

Satan: quit your job

Jesus: what?

Satan: join my emo band

Ouhhh I didn't even think about the possible implications of hooked noses I just really like drawing them fdjkggffd. I do enjoy drawing Satan a charming guy. Anyone who comes up to the son of god and triple dog dares him to turn a rock into a loaf of bread has Got to have some sense of humor. Technically satan is supposedly evil but shrug let a guy have fun while tempting you to sin. The best charmers to me are always the ones too charismatic to resist

[copdog1234]

Also, I feel like the specific race swaps they did with the characters also feel like they're falling into stereotypes on the surface???

When we forget how they butchered the character personalities, when you think of Velma typically, you think of someone super smart and overachieving. Making her Southeast Asian makes her the "smart Southeast Asian character". When you think of Shaggy, you think of a stoner who's high all the time and loves to eat. Making him black makes him a "lazy POC character". When we think of Daphne, we think of the hot damsel in distress character who needs to be saved by Fred (which is not her whole character, none of these are, but if you're shorthanding it, then yeah). Making her east asian makes her a "lotus blossom character". Leaving Fred white, makes the last one worse.

Like, if we're gonna race swap, why not make the characters races that don't perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Keep Shaggy white, make Velma black, make Daphne Southeast Asian, make Fred East Asian. Boom, you're automatically making the race swaps more interesting and not perpetuating stereotypes commonly seen on TV and you don't have to change the character's personalities at all! Wow.

And don't get me started on how ugly the current designs for the characters for this show are. They don't Look Good or coherent

[wileycap]

Hi! I really want to hear your opinion about Agni Kai in Atla LA and why it's bad thematically. Thank you!

Hi! I've never been asked anything before!

Alright, so - spoilers. Also, sorry that this is so long.

In the original, Zuko does not fight back, and that's so important. It's clear that the Fire Nation has great respect for hierarchy, whether it be elders, leaders or superior officers. Ozai is the ultimate hierarchical superior to Zuko: his father, his superior as a royal, and - of course - the leader of the entire nation.

In the Agni Kai, Ozai repeatedly orders Zuko to fight for his honor, and Zuko refuses. He remains prostrate, and reaffirms his respect for his father. In the context of this hierarchical culture, he is doing everything right in the face of an order that, to him, is the ultimate paradox. And that's what earns him his scar. A disfiguring, dishonoring brand.

He gets burned because he wants so badly to do everything right. He gets burned because he wants to show respect. He gets burned because, in a cultural context, he is behaving as he should. Because his father is cruel.

But it's not just that: it also serves as a shorthand to the audience that the Fire Nation under Ozai and his forefathers is wrong, to the point that Zuko, the dutiful son, literally cannot do right under that system. And you don't need to do a deep dive into what the culture is presented as to get that - it immediately strikes the audience with a profound sense of unfairness. It efficiently communicates that the Fire Nation is rotten, that the system itself has become corrupted and distorted.

And this sets up Zuko's entire arc. He did right, and he got punished. At the end of S2, he does wrong, and he gets rewarded, but the reward isn't fulfilling to him, because everything he could ever earn under that system is tainted and his experiences outside the system have shown him that, even if he can't accept it at first. And it's so narratively satisfying to watch him then defy his father, who tries to punish him again with lightning, only for him to now be able to literally turn it back (with Iroh's technique, Iroh being one of the few sources of unconditional love in his life!). He then redefines his relationship with Firebending itself, going back to the original source of it. He literally rids himself of the corruption of his nation.

It forms such a tight narrative arc, and it sets up so much about the Fire Nation with no need for explanation. Even his interactions with Iroh also tske on a new light: he's intentionally disrespecting his uncle - another elder and superior, as well as a father figure - and Iroh never punishes him for it. Ultimately, that unconditional love and support leads him to reform his nation.

In the Live Action, Ozai orders him to fight back, and he does. He even has a chance to strike Ozai, but doesn't, prompting Ozai to remark that "compassion is a weakness" before he burns Zuko. Which was never the point of Zuko's arc. It waters down his entire primary character conflict, because if his takeaway is that he lost a fight because he was too kind, then the only thing that needs to happen is for him to get some kind of narrative payoff by being kind. Wow, arc over. It becomes this surface level morality tale about how compassion isn't weakness.

In the LA, he also gets multiple chances to speak out at the war meeting. He questions the plan, the general and Ozai lay out actual, sensible reasons for why the plan has to proceed as it is, and then Zuko says that it's a terrible plan anyways. In the original, he speaks out once, and his words even make it clear that he's speaking out because the soldiers "love and defend our nation." His objection is the mildest possible form of objection: he isn't questioning the system, in fact, he's reinforcing it by appealing to the virtue of these soldiers. And he still gets punished.

With all that and Iroh explicitly calling out Ozai multiple times in the LA, we don't get the sense that the Fire Nation culture itself has been warped by imperialism. We just get the sense that the leader is a bad dude. And that's a far less powerful setup, and it will lead to a far less satisfying resolution.

It's an incredibly watered down version of the original, and lacks so much thematic weight.