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kalebishop96-blog · 1 year

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Cuphead vs. The Cuphead Show: If TCS is Good Now, Here’s Why And How it Could Be Better (A Critical Essay Review)

Foreword of Essay:

This critical essay was written for the growth and support of the franchise, the game, the animated series, and other future productions that may arrive. The intended angle chosen upon writing this essay will be subjective interpretations backed up with facts, lore, clips from various classic cartoons, and article reviews, and such materials will be used to be compared to the animated show. Arguments are intended to be balanced with facts on both pro and anti-bases of the scale and such angles will also be backed up with some common opinions about it.

However, please note that such intentions may not be perfected in this essay and some points of view may have been missed due to the amount of research taken and the nature of human error. I repeat the intention of making these critiques are for the sake of improvement and my passion for making art and wonderful stories.

May you have an open mind and may you be protected from negative emotions that may trigger you in reading this essay.

DISCLAIMER: THE IMAGES USED IN THIS ESSAY ARE NOT MINE, THEY GO TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS SUCH AS STUDIO MDHR, COMIC BOOK ARTISTS, AND AUTHORS. AS SUCH, EVERY IMAGE HERE IS CREDITED AND LINKED BACK TO THEIR OWNERS.

FAN ART OF OTHERS (NOT MINE) WILL NOT BE REPOSTED HERE, BUT WILL INSTEAD BE LINKED BACK TO THEIR ORIGINAL POSTS. IF YOU WANT TO VIEW THEM, PLEASE CLICK THE LINKS.

The moment I fell in love with Cuphead was because of this:

I have one word for this GIF: #goals.

At the time, my relationship with my brother was already broken to the point that there was irreparable damage. Before the Double Platinum Award, I was only familiar with Cuphead. I have seen it, I have played a bit of it, but I wasn’t entirely invested in the game… until I saw this peculiar picture above. At first, I thought it was weird, goofy, funny, wholesome, and cute. This is when I started to get interested and do a bit of research about the lore of the game (because lore reading is one of my favorites), and also some background about how the game was made due to the wonderful animation and graphics. Overall, I came to this conclusion:

Cuphead and Mugman are two best friends who live together as brothers.

It was the very first glimmer of a concept to even surface in the media; a standard production would have featured an average toxic relationship, or it’s a production with a lot of fighting and it is stereotyped as ‘healthy’ because siblings fight. This picture changed everything for me and it was helping my relationship with my brother heal as well as my perspective on being a brother. Even more, there were other people within the community that made art that echoed this relationship.

Note: The following examples are fanart of other creators and will not be reposted here, but instead LINKED back to their respective pages. Please show your love and support for them, thank you!

TITLE: Cuphead and Mugman in “Mocking the Dice!”

MADE BY: NinjaHaku21

Source: https://ninjahaku21art.tumblr.com/post/166836582635/cuphead-and-mugman-in-mocking-the-dice-me-and

TITLE: CLINK

MADE BY: velvet-fox123

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/velvet-fox123/art/CLINK-709574634

TITLE: Cuphead and Mugman Cute Brother Moments

MADE BY: QueerMars

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/queermars/art/Cuphead-and-Mugman-Cute-Brother-Moments-872213389

TITLE: Collab/Redraw: Apology Cookies!

MADE BY: TheWallop-Cat12

Source: https://www.deviantart.com/thewallop-cat12/art/Collab-Redraw-Apology-Cookies-824553030

I’m here because I wanted so badly to be part of it with the added benefit of my mental healing. And so I did!

It was bliss, and having the idea of these brothers play & play, and live rent-free in my mind was some of the happiest things I’ve ever had in my life. I wanted it to keep going and going.

So I’ve made my own fan work here and there (which are irrelevant to this essay) but to keep my inspiration up I kept on following the franchise. The game, the comics, and soon the novels if I can get my hands on them. But then came… The Cuphead Show.

I wanted to love the show unconditionally, and yet I find myself agreeing to the critical reception of 67% and 70% ratings it has received. I watched a select few episodes and avoided the ones I did not like, and I would say Episodes 7 and 8 were actually decent to watch. I kept tabs on the series every now and then just to see how the story was going, and I’m sad to say my opinion has not changed. This essay will elaborate on why.

Essay Contents:

Cons:

- Character inconsistency

- Weak Plot (even if it is a comedy, compared to cartoons like SpongeBob, Adventure Time, The Amazing World of Gumball, etc.).

Pros:

- Superb Animation

- Strong appeal to the Gen-Z.

- It’s a ‘fun-house cartoon’.

This mainly talks about The Cuphead Show.

Character inconsistency

This is talking about the large disparity between the characters of the game, comics, and books, and the show. The three aforementioned materials have a consistency about the style and characterization of the franchise’s characters and that consistency has led to well-structured and well-branded stories , but noticeably they are very different from the show. Characterization is a vital part of Cuphead’s story because this is a character-driven plot. Without the key strengths and weaknesses of the characters, the plot becomes weak and less entertaining.

The characters in question are of course:

- Cuphead & Mugman

- Elder Kettle

- The Devil

- King Dice

- The Inkwell Isle Bosses

Starting with:

Cuphead and Mugman (TCS)

In a nutshell: They fight about the smallest things… but they don’t laugh about the smallest things. They are brothers, but they don’t have enough ‘bro’ moments.

At best, they are nice to each other and just talk (on seldom occasions they show how much they love each other), at worst they are verbally and physically violent, on average they are just tolerant that they are there. A lot of you might think that “hey, isn’t what I described a perfect description of brothers?” Actually, because they fight a lot and the degree of harm they cause to each other, this is an example of what a toxic relationship looks like. Realistic and healthy brotherly relationships have a balance of both wholesome and bitter moments, and by the end of the conflict they just continue playing as if nothing of the sort happened. This topic about healthy brotherly relationships is a core of Cuphead and Mugman’s relationship and characterization because even Maja Moldenhaur mentioned this during her speech in ‘The Cuphead Journey’:

They weren’t just brothers, they were best friends.

(Side topic: But wait, wasn’t she talking about Chad & Jared MDHR, not Cuphead and Mugman? And yet, the cartoon art created for that specific presentation had Chad and Jared wear red and blue shirts respectively for almost every slide. And the fact that the ‘Deal With the Devil’ was actually a metaphor for their choice of quitting their jobs and going all-in on the Cuphead video game project. You get the jist, they drew their Cupsonas in a Fleischer-inspired animation world).

Going back: Best friends, for no apparent reason, do things that make each other laugh or happy, and because they are best friends they always look for that moment. That doesn’t necessarily mean they do nice things all the time, sometimes or often they do things that are risky, stupid, dangerous, and offensive to the average person, but between the both of them it’s a language that only they would understand and only they know would make each other happy. This is what’s supposed to make the polar opposite to their consistent fighting, and combining the two polars (wholesome and bitter) will achieve a balance and accuracy to a healthy relationship.

What is demonstrated in the show however is this:

Between them it’s like they live in an atmosphere of kerosene and only a spark of antagonization is enough to light the sky on fire. This is what I meant when I said ‘the average toxic sibling relationship’ stereotype which is covered up as healthy in the mainstream; siblings don’t support you, they provoke you, at least that’s the culture that the mainstream wants to instill.

Even in the episode 7 & 8 that’s evident in these lines:

Season 1 Episode 7

“No one cares about little ole me!” Cuphead said denying his worries about the Devil taking his soul.

It’s Not:

“No one cares about little ole me…” Cuphead paused. “Except you pal.”

Mugman smiled. “And Elder Kettle.”

“AAAND Elder Kettle.”

There’s an absent sense of security and confidence that he has people who cares about him, and that’s not only shallow, but toxic that he takes them for granted, which makes his character inconsistent. He’s a loveable scamp, not a selfish jerk.

Another example:

After Quadratus instructs Mugman to nit an invisible sweater…

“Well, it looks like I have to nit an invisible sweater.”

Emphasis on ‘have to’, as in it’s a hassle he has to fulfill his obligation and there’s no benefit in that.

It’s Not:

“Well… IF IT MEANS SAVIN’ MY BROTHER’S SOUL I’LL DO ANYTHIN!” Says Mugman standing on top of a rock from Quadratus’ pond with a white glow behind him and an angelic choir, which is actually coming from Quadratus, singing on the background.

Cuphead starts to cry tears of gratitude, but then mischievously smiles. “HEY! YOU CAN’T STAND THERE LIKE YOU’RE SOME KING OF THE ROCK, GET DOWN FROM THERE!”

The scene plays on with Cuphead wrestling Mugman on Quadratus’ pond, and Quadratus becomes the wrestling referee that counts 1, 2, 3 as laughing Mugman is pinned down.

Mugman is supposed to be this unconditionally loving brother to Cuphead. No matter how much the latter screws up and makes stupid decisions, he’s always there to pick him back up and keep playing with just a high five to the chest. Plus, if he really is his ‘best friend’, then he’d keep on hanging out with Cuphead because there is an unexplained happiness he feels with him, and it usually translates into a lot of feel-good actions like high-fives, fist bumps, chest bumps, head clinks, etc. In here, he’s just as tolerant and cold, he’s no better than Cuphead, makes sense for the spin-off, but it eliminates what makes Mugman Cuphead’s pal.

Another example:

Episode 2:

“NO FIGHTING!” Elder Kettle slams the door. He opens the door again to check on them and then slams the door again.

Cuphead and Mugman without hesitation begin to fight.

It’s Not:

“No fighting!” Elder Kettle wags his finger.

Cuphead and Mugman look at each other, and smirk.

“Uhh what?” Cuphead raised an eyebrow to EK.

EK raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Because… you’re brothers?”

While looking at Elder Kettle, Cuphead and Mugman do a fist bump, followed by a complex Chicken Little high five combo and then ending with a head clink and a buddy hug.

“Yes?” Cuphead and Mugman say together.

Elder Kettle hums. “Good point. Have fun, but not too much fun!” Elder Kettle leaves.

Cuphead smiles mischievously at Mugman.

“What?” He asked suspiciously at Cuphead.

“Elder Kettle’s not home.” Cuphead smiles bigger.

Mugman’s eyes widen in shock realization about the meme reference. “NO! NO! NONONONONONONO!” He says while towering and scolding Cuphead while the latter smiles more mischievous. Eventually Cuphead’s smile infects Mugman that he starts giggling. “N-HO! UH-UH! I’M NOT DOING IT!”

“DEW IT!” Cuphead says in a goofy evil bass voice while he narrows his eyelids.

“NO! NO!” Mugman pulls out his straw from his head and begins to play it like a trumpet to the melody of ‘When Mom Isn’t Home’.

Cuphead walks over to their front door and slams it open and shut repeatedly, same way as the meme.

(Rest of the scene plays as an inspiration to the ‘Trashing The Camp’ scene from Tarzan).

Another example:

Season 2 Episode 3:

Cuphead removes the tentacle that has been attacking his face while Mugman is adoring the conversation of Briny and Cala for the latter to be the former’s girlfriend.

“Hey, Mugsy!” Cuphead whispered.

“Yeah?” Mugman whispered back.

“Ya sure about lettin’ Captain Brinyface become Cala’s mate?” Cuphead whispered.

“Yeah! It’s goin’ great!” Mugman smiled.

“No no, I mean you! Don’t you want to take your chance with Cala?”

“What?!” Mugman yelled. “What do you mean?!”

“I mean, she did call you ‘dinner’.” Cuphead winked.

“Cuphead-….” Mugman paused in thought and then smiles with an ‘I see what you did there’ face while Cuphead smiled wider. “Not that kind of dinner.” Mugman giggled.

“Eh, suit yourself. She’s a really BIG catch if you know what I mean.” Cuphead elbow nudges Mugman and winks at him twice.

Mugman giggled. “Nah, there are plenty of fish in the sea.”

Cuphead’s mouth gaped open “Oooooohhhh!”

Cuphead and Mugman start tearfully giggling at each other.

Cala Maria looks at the cup brothers confused while Captain Brinybeard looks unamused.

“Vat are they talking about?” Cala Maria Asked.

“Eh.” Brineybeard shrugs his shoulders. “Brothers.”

And my last example:

Season 3 (or Season 1C as some people refer)

Episode 1:

By the end of the episode, after Mugman asks what Cuphead wants to do, Cuphead chooses to go back to Soul Ball, indicating that nothing has changed, and despite being sorry for dealing with the devil, the thrill of the game is too much of a reward to deny. Realizing this, Mugman faints, and the cycle begins again.

What could’ve been better is:

Cuphead plays Soul Ball, but this time he offers the ball to Mugman to play. Mugman is nervous and gets angry stating he will never risk his soul to the devil, Cuphead says he knows that… but then dares him to not lose the game. Mugman then gets nervous and worries about losing the Soul Ball game. Cuphead agrees… but then says he’ll be missing out on the fun of: ‘Pissing off the Devil’. Excited and motivated, Mugman makes his 1st try on Soul Ball, but then loses. The machine sucks Mugman’s soul, but Cuphead easily catches it and puts it back to Mugman. The Devil appears pissed and tries to forcefully take Mugman’s soul, but Cuphead laughs and runs away with Mugman fearful of his life.

“The game’s not over yet buddy!” Cuphead says.

Once again, the Devil shoots fire from his pitchfork and accidentally destroys a part of the Carnevil. Mugman realizes this and starts to laugh with Cuphead as they play this game of dangerous ‘tag’ with the devil. After the Carnevil is destroyed, the Devil is horrified at the destruction, while Cuphead and Mugman laugh and run away together with the Carnevil once again burning down in the background.

-End of Examples-

I think you can see the difference; there wasn’t much significant ‘best friend’ qualities that Cuphead and Mugman shared between them, whereas it was only hinted and told that they are very close. This is the power of ‘show don’t tell’, a lot of toxicity and hostility between them is shown and they would tend to forgive each other only to repeat the cycle all over again, and only in desperate times or in the rare case they are on the same page would they call each other friends. What’s worse is that not only is this a dark concept about brotherhood, but it’s a very inconsistent characterization of Cuphead and Mugman in comparison to the game, comics, and books.

The Following are images coming from the comic: Cuphead Volume 1: Comic Capers & Curios.

The following images are from the comic: Cuphead Volume 2: Cartoon Chronicles & Calamities

(This is another fanart, will not repost but will be linked).

Source: https://twitter.com/ElCajarito/status/950834633133916163/photo/1

The concept of resurrecting either Cuphead or Mugman includes giving a high-five to either of their hearts. I repeat, a high-five to either of their hearts. Whatever the interpretation may be: it’s cute, adorable, and wholesome.

Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mSYNJRvCizk/mqdefault.jpg

Best shot I could find.

These are the animations for Mugman and Cuphead respectively if both players choose to equip Chalice’s cookie before entering a boss fight. It’s a small detail but, but if you will take a closer look, at the very start of the animation they’re both holding a half of the same cookie, or in other words, they’re casually sharing the same cookie. This indicates one, (of course) they care about each other, and two, it directly contradicts the Cuphead Show synopsis ‘Unless there's only one cookie left, in which case it's every cup for himself.’

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Ftenor.com%2Fview%2Fcuphead-studio-mdhr-jumping-jump-happy-gif-19678123&psig=AOvVaw0Xypu0Kunzbbfo7smjWQGb&ust=1669258211622000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjRxqFwoTCPiUs8elw_sCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE

Source: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcuphead.fandom.com%2Ff%2Fp%2F3100000000000000588%2Fr%2F3087692258901041559&psig=AOvVaw37IAqOTWKqP7dJBKZEzdD-&ust=1669258167955000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CBAQjRxqFwoTCIjJ0bKlw_sCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD

These are the jumping victory animation of Cuphead and Mugman after beating a boss level. Just two brothers celebrating side by side by jumping and jumping accompanied with lots and lots of cheers. Nothing toxic, just simple wholesome childish joy.

One last evidence:

- No mention of any ill will or criticism towards each other. Despite Cuphead had gambled his soul to the devil, Mugman pulled his own weight (2-Player game available), protected his brother from harm (resurrect mechanic), invited to race him back home as soon it was all over, and made a promise with Cuphead to never get in trouble again as if it was his responsibility too. Heck, in the DLC, he even joined him on the next adventure & voluntarily got in trouble and ate the cookie without knowing what it does. He’s as much a trouble-maker as his brother is.

However, if it was given from the start that they fight a lot, then I have no right to criticize and this essay is an example of ignorance and a lack of respect for the creative choice of the artists. But in this case, it’s the other way around, The Cuphead Show is an adaptation of the game and the franchise; despite its Executive Producers being Chad & Jared MDHR, the main director of the project is Dave Wasson.

If it were a truly healthy friendship between these two then they would be open and carefree about expressing themselves without the fear of being shut down by each other. And the following is a big yes to brotherly relationships: roughhousing, wrestling, arm wrestling, and other physical competition; it is a healthy aspect of brotherly love because it pushes them to be stronger and learn how to fight when the real threats come, and most importantly it’s the right amount of thrill and fun in playtime for boys like them.

Instead, in the show, we’ve got 2 brothers who provoke each other until they fight for the smallest reasons they could think of, and they tend to not respect each other for who they are and what they need. (Ex: Mugman uses Cuphead’s jawbreaker instead of soap to make Quadratus appear, he doesn’t respect his brother’s passion for candy. Cuphead takes an entire maple syrup bottle and is inconsiderate if Mugman would’ve liked some. Mugman thought of cutting Cuphead’s hands with shears. Cuphead attempted to replace Mugman as his brother).

Cuphead and Mugman had a special relationship, they’re like two best friends who invite each other over for a playdate except they live in the same house. They don’t have to wait until late afternoon or after school to have fun or they didn’t have to say goodbye just to wait for their playdate, because they live in the same house!

I know I’m not the only one who agrees on these differences. There are several fanart and fan creators that agree with this disparity and support the show anyway, which I am grateful by the way that they support the franchise. My part as a fan is to highlight how it could be improved.

A few pegs that could be like Cuphead and Mugman’s relationship would be:

- The Game Grumps Dan & Arin (Some specific examples may not apply)

- Fred & George Weasley (Harry Potter)

- Team Rocket

- Chip n Dale

- Goofy Gophers

- Sans & Papyrus (Undertale)

- Catdog

In conclusion, Cuphead and Mugman’s relationship is actually what I look for in this franchise because it helps me heal from a scarred relationship. I love the franchise’s interpretation of these two, but The Cuphead Show has a lot of shoes and porcelain cups to fill.

That’s it for the first part of this essay, sorry if it’s short but it’s all I could write at the moment. I will continue discussing the rest in my next post.

What do you think? Do you agree or not? Let’s start a healthy discussion! Leave a comment below!

#Cuphead #mugman #cuphead and mugman #essay #critical essay #review #elder kettle #king dice #The Devil #the cuphead show #comparison

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transfemstarscream · 2 years

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like.. i know that tf fandom likes to applaud themselves for being lgbt+/women friendly and stuff but.. is it just me or is half of the fandom just cesspool of anti sjw incels? i can't even search windblade on twitter without those people constantly popping up on the result defending that flame toys model and mocking "sjw puritans". i just saw someone with trans flag and rainbow flag on their username belittle windblade for being written by female creators, saying she was added into the franchise for woke diversity agenda aslskdksksdj

oh, it definitely is a cesspool of exactly that—the tumblr community is small(er) in comparison to sites like twitter, reddit, or fan forums, where people of various backgrounds are allowed to say some of the most insane shit about this franchise and not get ridiculed for it. hell, i would argue that it isn't necessarily just the "anti-sjw incels", because a lot of people in the fandom who paint themselves as progressive and/or are minorities themselves aren't exempt from giving reactionary-type and/or conservative talking points, especially in regard to characters like windblade (like your example).

since the moment female characters were introduced into the franchise, people have constantly complained about it—yes, even people who try to hide their misogyny by saying "i just prefer gay ships" as if women are nothing more than their romantic attachments to men. yes, even the other trans girls who like the franchise like me but i know who are oddly against and hateful of the female characters in the franchise, even if they've never actually done anything to hate.

you see a lot of it honestly; i could make the comparison of people who say the heat against the flame toys model is just "puritans being angry at sexuality" is similar to people who say the hate for morally despicable things like incest/abuse/etc. in ships is just "puritans being angry at sexuality" (a.k.a. both annoying). a lot of people still force a rather bioessentialist society onto transformers—and ironically, it's coming from a lot of people who are LGBT themselves, lol. (i've gotten...rather mean comments for pointing out that their identity doesn't excuse racism and transphobia)

i think this is why it's important to form your own space, because my blog is just essentially me talking to my friends and followers about transformers, not a representation of the community as a whole. if i didn't form my own little circle and wasn't careful, i'd still be seeing posts like "i don't have the women in transformers, i just think it's being forced onto us!" but in a ~progressive way~ or "here's my detailed explanation on drift's thighs unprompted" or "here's politics in transformers, except i get everything wrong".

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thepilotanon · 3 years

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Lesson Time!

So, for the babes who actually take the time to read posts and my responses, here's a little interesting lesson about comics and it's branched franchise, because I keep getting messages about why I'm "picky" about certain requests/opinions about some stuff.

(*I have a four year degree and a legit career in comics and writing that also transitions to filming/industry content, as well as minors in writing, history of comics and writing material in various forms. To put it simply, I've gone through the deepest pits of Hell to write 24 page papers per topic, and have met and worked with various people who have been in the Big Name Places. Not going to go into big words and detailed links, but it should get the point across).

There are various versions of characters in big name comic companies, such as DC and Marvel. There is no one version, minus the original made by the original creators, that is considered true canon. Even that is debatable from the original creators, and how they feel about their original creations. This is done for (mostly) to gain a wider audience to bring in more income and popularity; it's the most common and normalized behavior with big name companies and content creators to insure that they can keep banking, as well as keep jobs open for up-and-coming artists and keeping the craft alive.

While it is known that fandoms come in all forms and shapes of characters or plots, it does not give anyone the right to dictate or gate-keep certain points of something that is not theirs, nor in their control of canon. Majority of the time, creators "give up" the rights of their original ideas and concepts in favor of the next generation or other group of people who like it, but don't like it enough to consume the products, when they make it big.

(Note: Usually, content creators will be willing to give up the "rights" to their characters, mostly in favor to carry on the story and give new artists/story-tellers a chance to keep content alive and going. Some others, depending on the publishing rights and their contracts, will be able to keep their content in their names and could allow others to carry on - with limitations - if they're still alive and keep it solid. Example will come with Stephen Hillenburg, creator of Spongebob, who wanted his creation to remain just that one plot and no spin-offs/prequels, and, since his death, Nickelodeon is now aiming to make numerous spin-offs. Naoko Takeuchi, creator of Sailor Moon, has sole ownership of her content and is able to monitor what is being made of her creation, such as the early 2000s live-action TV show and musicals, and raised hell over the anime adaptation of the Three Lights).

That's why there is various versions of Batman, who was created in the late 1930s; where there's the original bachelor and cape crusader, the retired-but-rehired old man Batman, the various sidekicks who inherit the cape and carry on the legacy and "rebirth" of Batman. Where he gets together with different women and "settles" in various plots, never stating the change or how it really happened (unless you purchase the specific series).

That's why there is, like, ten versions of the X-Men plot with the Dark Pheonix, and what comes after. There's various couples that became "canon" in the specific series, and a very different "canon" couple in the next. Where Wolverine married Storm, or Storm married T'Challa/Black Panther, or Wolverine got with Jean Grey. Rogue's difference in obtaining her powers/abilities in the comics versus the films differentiate in favor to paint her character in a different light, where the "new" audience would understand her better and like her quicker.

The main point of doing this "sharing" of content is to make more bank, but to also allow creativity and acceptance to various audiences. The original concept of comics and other content as a whole was to create an accepting environment, where the creator can put themselves into stories (example would be Krazy Kat by George Herriman, where it's noted how the leading character is influenced by the creator's ethnic, sexual, and gendered identity; or George Lucas' creating Luke Skywalker in his image growing up and wanting to explore the world). Many fans can take how they will on the content given, warp it to make them feel emotionally connected to both the story and story-teller, and be able to share and help add on for the future, whether it's being hired by the same company or organization, or contribute to the fandoms.

It's not fair for fans and fandoms to mock or criticize other fans for which version they like or prefer over the other. It's not fair for fans to say "this is how so-and-so character is suppose to be" or "your opinion on this-or-that character/plot is boring/inexcusable/not canon and wrong". That's not what 99% of comics, books, movies, TV shows want.

You can enjoy the content you like or make to contribute to the fandom, and you don't have to be a fucking prick about it. Learn how to share and stay in your lane, because everyone is allowed to enjoy what they like and share their love and thoughts openly with others - you don't have to ruin it for everyone else.

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captain-azoren · 3 years

Note

"This is how Azula ended up being flanderized from a villain who was highly competent and smug to being a crazed madwoman who is constantly being portrayed as a sadist" To add on, isn't a crazed madwoman who is a sadist essentially Azula's character post-canon? For in The Search, she helps search for Ursa so she can off her in an attempt to get rid of the voice in her head & only stops when Noriko, not Ursa, tells her that she is sorry for neglecting Azula if she was her mom. 1/4

"And then in S&S, she breaks out 6 girls from her asylum as part of a long-term seditious domestic terrorist plot to turn Zuko into a dictator, using the visage of a dark sprit from her former friend Mai's nightmare (that she was responsible for causing) to terrorize the capital, engage in mass child kidnapping, and manipulate terrorist groups to do the job before ominously vanishing into smoke, heavily implied to keep trying until she get what she wants, damn the consequences. 2/4

And before people bring up the implied asylum abuse (and Yang's WoG heavily implying Azula's mental state/actions in the comics due to the asylum), I don't think the average reader cares. For if you go onto mainstream sites like reddit and twitter, the majority seems to believe that Azula was essentially born with non-curable severe ASPD despite that going against the show's ethos's and the show/WoG (at the time) all but saying Azula was a product of nurture, not nature. ¾

So I think you hit the head on the nail that by focusing so much on the aesthetics of Azula's villainy, the show basically caused fandom, and even the creators, to ignore the humanity in Azula to the point that it basically blocks off any interesting storytelling avenues post-Sozin's Comet with Azula other than killing her, jailing her, de-bending her, and/or turning her into a scooby-doo/ Team Rocket type of villain. 4/4"

Yes, you're right, I don't think the average or casual Avatar really cares what happens to Azula, and her being THE villain of the franchise has become so essential to what they perceive should be the status quo.

It's just a waste of so much potential, and it is so frustrating how insistent so many in the fandom are about about keeping Azula from developing that potential. The reason is because Azula was carefully crafted to make her utterly unsympathetic on the surface level. She lords her power over others and intimidates them. She looks down on the weak and threatens them into submission.

I think what really stings some fans is how Azula emasculates everyone with her very presence, especially Zuko. For so much of the series she is just flat out better than him. She is far more of a threat to the Gaang than he ever was, and she is his younger female.

With Katara and Sokka, you don't resent Katara for being a powerful waterbender, because Sokka isn't a bender anyway. He's able to find his own, different strength from her. What's more, they both support and love each other. With Azula and Zuko though? She just rubs her superiority in Zuko's face, and it feels wrong. It feels unfair that she's stronger than him despite all his effort and struggles.

At some level, the narrative wants the audience to want to see Azula fall. It wants to make you wish to see this smug, condescending bully finally know what it feels like to lose, what it feels like to be humiliated, and by the very people she tormented and mocked.

To see Azula get knocked down a peg, to be put in her place, for all the suffering she's caused our heroes and Zuko, would be cathartic and satisfying, especially after two seasons of always having the upper hand and winning. It would be the sweetest catharsis to see this evil, sadistic woman be broken, brought upon herself for her own cruelty. That is right. That is fair.

But it's really not that simple, because Azula is still a kid like them, she still has a heart, and she still suffers unfairly for doing what she thought she had to do, and no one understands her or gives her a chance.

#azula #tla #avatar #avatar the last airbender #meta #answer

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johannas-motivational-insults · 4 years

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I’m an autistic lesbian in her early twenties who loves She-Ra. It blew me away in so many ways, & I related so intensely to Catra and Adora’s struggles (but especially Catra’s) that I cried multiple times as a result. I’d never seen experiences that so closely mirrored my own and subsequently dealing w/ the aftermath of being continually abused depicted in such a compassionate way. (Continued)

Lately, however, I’ve felt strange & wrong about publicizing that I love She-Ra, because multiple times I’ve either seen posts demeaning people who consume cartoons, saying that it’s next to impossible to derive deeper meanings “from content primarily aimed at tweens & people whose brains aren’t fully developed yet” or had something to the same effect said to my face via my university friends & family members. Please let me know if you think I’m being too sensitive about this, but I was already feeling exceedingly self-conscious & insecure about being an adult who liked any kind of animation (my parents always demeaned any anime, for example, calling it “kiddie escapism”) & seeing things like this has just made me more so, especially when it’s directed toward something that had such an impact on me. Am I just overthinking all of this? Thank you very much for listening, I really appreciate it.

Honestly I might not be the best person to ask, I tend to be kind of biased against cartoons myself. I decided to give She-Ra a try when I was told it was popular among exvangelicals as a religious deprogramming metaphor, and I wasn’t disappointed on that front. Tbh I do have a tendency to assume cartoons are either kiddie escapism or edgelord garbage even though I know that’s not always the case, I guess I have my prejudices too.

However, I definitely relate to what you’re talking about. It has happened to me with She-Ra as well as several live action shows and other media franchises I’ve gotten into. I’m autistic too and I know that feeling when people are mocking you for getting so involved in a story instead of regular boring adult things, and in your twenties there’s a lot of pressure to break away from stuff like that. (I think you’ll find in your thirties and forties there’s more of that, but also more people bucking that trend and saying fuck it, life’s too short to not do what you enjoy.) I don’t think you’re being too sensitive, it’s hard to see someone demean something that means a lot to you or to feel criticized for the way your brain works.

Something that’s really cool about cartoons, actually, is how intentional everything is. In live action shows you can have a lot of intangibles not intended by the creator, such as chemistry between actors. In She-Ra it was nice because we knew all the little things like the waist/jacket grab on the cliff and the dip and all the soft looks Catradora gave each other were there on purpose. It wasn’t there because the actresses felt it in the moment, it was there because it was storyboarded. So cartoons have a certain clarity in that way that I like, and it makes it easier to write meta about scenes with certainty.

As an aside, imo She-Ra is definitely not kiddie escapism. It’s suitable for kids and puts stuff in a light they can understand but I wouldn’t say kids are the target audience, and either way it’s not really escapism. Like yeah it’s a fantasy world with magic and stuff but there is so much real world stuff in there like the stuff about abuse and indoctrination, and it has a character who’s pretty openly on the brink of being suicidal for 1.5 seasons. Like, She-Ra is definitely a hopeful show, but it has some very dark subject matter and it handles it with the seriousness and earnestness it deserves.

Sorry this was an assortment of thoughts and probably wasn’t the answer you were looking for but basically yeah, I know how you feel and no, I don’t think it’s stupid. You keep doing what makes you happy, and if it helps people understand it’s not pure escapism you can always try talking about the metaphors and messages and the serious subject matter. But tbh being an autistic person and a queer person, you’re probably going to find your best community online anyway. It sucks it can be hard to find people who understand you irl, but on the other hand we tend to flock to the same things. There are sooo many autistic wlws I have met through this fandom, it’s fucking insane. So as hard as it is, maybe try to focus more on the opinions of the people who are going to support you. If people don’t even try to understand, their opinions may still have an impact on you, but know that there’s always a community here you can come back to for support.

#asks #anon #spop

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calciferous-kelpie · 3 years

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Breaking Young Artists ft. Kirby

So I woke up today at 8AM (which is highly unlike me) with the extreme urge to write about my shitty experiences as a young creator online. I’ve never really talked about this with anyone before, at least not to the extent that I’m going to now. But yeah. Here we go. Yay.

Today we’re talking about the Kirby fandom, but it’s okay if you don’t know shit about Kirby because we’re actually talking about fandom gatekeeping more than anything.

Most of you probably didn’t know I was into the Kirby franchise at one point, and that’s completely intentional. I’ve put that part of my life far behind me, and let me tell you, I don’t look back on it with much fondness, despite the fact that I was in the fandom for years.

Here’s one of the many reasons why!

This is JP. My Kirby fan character from forbidden days no longer spoken of.

“Wait, so JP? Like… Jigglypuff?”

Yes.

“And this was your Kirby fan character?”

Yes.

“Oh.”

Yes.

My lack of creativity should be apparent to anyone who looks at this character. JP’s creation is lazy and self-indulgent. She is clearly the Pokemon Jigglypuff with some minor redesigns who was then shoved into the Kirby universe for no good reason.

When I first made her, I had no real intention of explaining why she was basically just Jigglypuff, but as I continued to develop her, I began to consider what it would be like to explain her appearance—to create a story where Pokemon and Kirby both existed together on, like, different planets in a vast universe. She was going to be half Jigglypuff and half… whateverthefuck you want to call Kirby’s species.

You can still find art of her buried deep in my DeviantArt gallery (as well as 21 chapters of a story I will never, ever complete), but I don’t talk about her anymore. And this is why.

It all happened back around 2010-2012, which meant I was about 12-14 at the time. This was back when DeviantArt was still the main hub for all artists (lmao) and tumblr was still kind of new on the scene. A cool new trend popping up in fandom spaces at this time was the creation of “your oc is terrible” tumblr blogs, which—as the term implies—existed simply to make fun of artists who had crappy characters. They would reupload artists’ works and laugh at how lame or unoriginal their designs were.

These people were trend-setters, making fun of cringe character designs before “cringe” was even a word used to describe them. And before you fall for the fun hipster wording here: no, this did not make them admirable. They were, in fact, assholes.

Some of these blogs liked to pretend they “poked fun” in the spirit of “constructive criticism” but very few of these people actually offered anything outside of insults. (Besides, even if their feedback had been constructive, none of these artists whose work they’d reuploaded had asked for this and probably should have just been left alone.)

You can probably see where I’m going with all of this. My art of JP was uploaded to a couple of these “crappy oc” blogs, and I was ridiculed for having dared to create a thing.

I discovered my art had been taken from my DeviantArt gallery and uploaded to tumblr (a site I didn’t even have an account on at the time) without my knowledge. My signature had been blocked out (to protect my privacy I guess??? lmfao) and my work had been openly mocked for the enjoyment of an audience. People complained about my shitty character, saying that she was literally just Jigglypuff dressed up to look like an OC. They rolled their eyes at her name and her appearance. And in no uncertain terms, I was deemed a bad artist and a bad member of fandom—a warning to other new artists of what to never be.

I wasn’t told any of this to my face, of course, which I guess was supposed to be a blessing. Rather, I had the lovely privilege of discovering that people were mocking me behind my back for their own satisfaction. It could have even been one of my friends who had brought my work up for mockery. I’ll never know.

But let me tell you, there’s not a lot that’s more discouraging than learning people are ridiculing you just out of earshot.

I wish I had had the foresight to take screenshots of the posts these people made. To document the insults and the way I was treated when I asked them to take my art down from their blog. Unfortunately, I don’t have that. I was young and ashamed and just wanted the experience to be over with. But you know what? The receipts don’t matter, anyway.

I don’t need to prove that I didn’t deserve that treatment.

Today, I acknowledge that my character was lame and kind of uncreative. But that certainly doesn’t mean that the people who made fun of me were in the right. I had never claimed to be a brilliant character creator—some great example of unique OCs and unparalleled storytelling. And hell, even if I had done that, it wouldn’t have given anyone the right to stomp on my imagination the way these people did. I was just a kid.

It’s 2021 now. I’m nearly 23 years old, and it’s been about a decade since this happened to me. I haven’t thought about this horrible event in detail for some time, but I need you to understand that even when I’m not actively thinking about this, my life as an artist is affected by it every day.

I’m still ashamed to share much of anything about my characters. I still worry constantly that I’m being cringey, self-indulgent, or a “bad artist.” Some days I manage to create with beautiful, reckless abandon, but then when the dreaming ends, I look back on what I’ve created and fuss, and worry, and doubt. (Ever wonder why you rarely see my work?)

I know the culture around OCs online has improved in a lot of ways since the 2010’s, but I still want to put this message out there. I want everyone to know why this sort of thing isn’t okay. I want my history to be documented so that maybe some new, excited artist doesn’t have to go through what I did.

TL;DR:

Never make fun of someone for having an uncreative or “cringey” character. It’s crappy to do to any artist of any age, but especially if you do this to a kid of all people—a young artist who is just learning the ropes and learning to be creative. This shit sticks with a person, and it can and will inhibit their ability to create amazing things in the future. If you put down an artist for being bad at design or being cringey, you are an awful person.

And to the people responsible for putting my dumbass little timmy’s-first-OC on tumblr blogs to be sneered at and mocked, I mean this will all my heart:

Fuck you! :)

#kirby #fan character #oc #fc #gatekeeping #fandom #fandom drama #fandom culture #criticism #hoshi no kaabii #kirby right back at ya #pokemon #jigglypuff #rant #long post #cal screeches #might have to edit this later idfk if it makes any sense

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soyouareandrewdobson · 4 years

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Dobson’s favorite cartoon reviewed: The adventures of spandex girl in New York aka the Miraculous Ladybug movie

So THIS is not going to be about a Dobson comic, but rather with the lack of Dobson posting shit out here, I thought I give my opinion about something Dobson would have likely sperged out within the last few months. What could it be I want to talk about? The riots? The death of RBG? Cuties?

Are you insane? My brain may function better than Dobson’s, but even so I am not touching those subjects with a tong, seeing how I myself am lacking detailed knowledge on such subjects. No. I am talking about the cartoon that makes Dobson’s little brain (and dick) all tingly: Miraculous Ladybug.

For starters, let me just say that despite being an animation fan myself, I am not really into this show at all. For a magical girl show that goes on for over three seasons at this point, I just feel like nothing happens in it. Sure, A LOT of tokusatsu and magical girl shows run on repetitive monster of the week formulas, but overall they will still have some progression to themselves. Growing up with Sailor Moon, I always loved the first season and how it actually made me feel like things are increasingly at stake as the story progressed. Especially in the final episodes when the Senshis actually died protecting Sailor Moon and it was only thanks to a Deus ex machina everyone was reincarnated again. As melodramatic as Sailor Moon could be, at least each story arc had a beginning and ending that did not overstay its welcome. Ladybug meanwhile can be summed up as followed:

Teenage girl is thirsty for obvious blond boy whose dad wants to get magic jewelry to necromance his comatose wife. Teenage girl gets magic jewelry and turns into heroine in ladybug mustered spandex suit that makes rule34 artists all tingly. Same goes for boy she has the hots for, only he becomes gimp catsuit shota bait. Bad guy transforms random citizens who feel down for some reason (often times connected to a blond whose family name Dobson can’t write) into action figure like super villains. Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat them, the damage is reseted, Ladybug and Cat Noir never figure out who the other one is despite things being so obvious Ray Charles could have seen that shit coming. Repeat not just for one, but ALL seasons so far and add as little as possible storywise to increase the roaster of characters, but not progress the plot.

All that said, I can say that there are worse shows out there and for a show meant to sell toys to girls and be about a female hero, it is not THAT bad. But a) the creator is an asshole (think of functional Dobson) and b) there are still better shows to watch, even within the preteen magical girl genre, than this. Not to forget that this thing may be the indirect successor of Totally Spies and give certain people internet related fetishes within the next few years.

So, why am I believing Dobson would talk about the show at least for today more than he already tends to do on average? Because Ladybug actually got now a movie.

Well, it is called a movie, but in reality it is more of a 3 parter to start the fourth season if you really look into it. The thing is called Miraculous World: New York – United HeroeZ. It clocks in around 65 minutes and focuses on Marinette and Adrien in New York, teaming up with new heroes that are so unsubtlety promoted in this movie, I expect them to get their own spin off series by the end of next year so the showmakers can milk the cow even drier.

Let me try to elaborate in what is going to be a less than just a bit snarky summary with a few critical points and jokes at Dobson’s expense thrown in here. In other words, the typical biased youtube reaction channel/movie review. Spoiler warnings are obvious and I promise than unlike certain pedos on youtube I am not going to focus on the assets of underaged French girls. I do warn however for increased levels of making a fool of myself by writing a multi page “mock summary” of this thing.

So because the movie is based on a children show, it has a very basic set up; Adrien and Marinette’s class is invited to spend one week in New York, because of a pointless international collaboration thing referred to as French-American Friendship week. The sheer existence of this showing that a) we needed any reason to get them there and b) this special was worked on LONG before COVID19 hit us all. And yes, I know animation takes its time to be done, I just think it is funny how in today’s international political climate and health situation this thing has become outdated already, when it is hitting the tv just now.

At the same time, Adrien’s dad suspects that an artifact currently shown at a museum in New York may be a missing Miraculous that was owned by the Marquis de La Fayette and gifted to George Washington during the American Revolution. And yes, we are going there and you can guess what Hawkmoth’s goal this time is, while at the same time history gets fucked up the butt.

But before we can get to any action in New York, we have to deal with the one thing Ladybug is known for best: Cringy shipping bait.

Look, I know that shipping is a part of magical girl shows in general, but the shit going on in this cartoon is not only drawn out tediously even for children tv standards, I find it makes some characters outright dumb and unlikable. We get it Marinette, Adrien makes you tingle. But can you stop cringing your way through life around him in a manner that would make Tomoko Kuroki say that you are freaking pathetic?

I don’t want anybody else. when I think about Adrien I...

Just three minutes into this movie she essentially melts away at a poster of Adrien and throughout the first 15 minutes she just simps away in the big blue yonder. For example by asking Adrien’s dad to allow his son to travel with the others to New York, obviously stumbling upon her words when she needs to remind herself that she can only see Adrien now as a friend and not love interest (because this is supposedly set after season 3, when she decided to go for the second price in form of the guy who plays guitar), insisting that she is only “friends” to the point even her best friend Alya gets fed up. Or when Marinette gets more than just “a bit” nervous at the chance of sitting on her flight to New York next to Adrien, resulting in her fucking that chance up so badly, I felt an headache approaching.

Not gonna lie, I had to pause a few times because it got so cringy for me, I wondered why Dobson makes primarily jokes on Adrien’s expense when Marinette herself is female thirst personified. Even the movie seems to point out how the two are so obvious to each other, when Alya has the following to say about them: I can’t decide if they are the most cutest people I know, or the most embarrassing.

Thankfully it is at 18 minutes into it, we FINALLY get something of a conflict. While still on the plane (And Adrien and Marinette watching a sunset through a window) a villain shows up, trying to steal the jet engine midflight.

Just roll with it

Thankfully, before the plane can go down thanks to a Gremlin on the wing- I mean TECHNO PIRATE, the real stars of the movie show up.

Wait, you thought this thing was going to be about Ladybug and Cat Noir being the primary heroes? WRONG!

Okay, to put the summary on hold and explain what I mean: This “movie” introduces us to “United HeroeZ”, a group of American superheroes. Yeah, turns out Miraculous is essentially set in your average “Superheroes are everywhere, but primarily US dominated territory” world and this story is meant to introduce us to them and have Ladybug and Cat Noir team up in order to save the day. And while I don’t necessarily HATE the characters, I have to admit that I can’t help myself but snark quite a bit about them. Not only are they for the most part just expies of well known superheroes, the way how prominent two of them in particular are featured in this movie makes it very, VERY obvious that (As I stated earlier) this thing aims just to create a tie-in show for the creators to make more money of the property. Not just that, but their presence in a way reduces Adrien and Marinette’s importance as characters, even though the new ones at best would count as supportive characters overall. Which again makes me wonder, what does it say about Ladybug and Cat Noir’s “impact” in their own franchise when I actually find myself more interested in the side characters made to promote new toys, than the actual leads?

Anyway, United HeroeZ defeats Techno Pirate and in doing so we are introduced to the main members of the group which are relevant for this movie:

So please, give an applause for…. MAJESTIA (aka actually decent Powergirl redesign/Non Superman)

SPARROW (Aka yet another Robin that may get hit by a crowbar)

UNCANNEY VALLEY (aka The Shipper on Deck/Cleopatra in Tin Foil/Vision as your Waifu/the dumbest name you could have chosen for a character!)

NIGHT OWL (aka Alan Moore is going to be pissed!/Oh look, it’s Batman!)

You get where I am coming from when I call them expies, right?

Anyway, with the plane safe the class finally gets to New York. Both Sparrow and Uncanney Valley get tasked to go undercover with the students and assure they are save during the trip, because plot reasons and New York is supposedly enough of a safe place that their services aren’t needed to fight bigger threats currently. Which confirms at the very least that a) this is not the Marvel Universe cause at this point the town may be ground zero yet again and b) a way more enjoyable version of the Big Apple than the real deal.

By the way, these are Uncanney (left) and Sparrow’s (right) civilian identities :

I can now imagine Dobson wanting to proclaim how problematic the character is for being a native American who looks the way she does. But believe me. It gets kinda worse in all the right ways.

Also, we are 28 minutes into the movie and we are introduced to the dumbest thing in the movie yet. The arch enemy of the Condiment King; Hot Dog Dan.

A superhero hot dog vendor seller with a flying hot dog truck, whose hot dogs give you temporarily some random superpowers when you eat them. And it seems he uses hot dog tongs as weapons.

I don’t know what the people making this show take, but I am torn between wanting some of that myself and putting them into rehab.

I really bring the character just up because he is as a concept in itself so ridiculous that part of me thinks he is a fever dream of Dobson. Otherwise he has no real bearing on what is going to happen on the rest of the movie. He is just relevant for a three minute long scene of a house roof party during which Adrien and Marinette dance for a bit.

Speaking of relevance, the next day the class finally gets to do something on the trip that leads into conflict for our heroes to face. During a visit of the museum where the La Fayette related Miraculous is hold, Uncanny and Sparrow decide to play shipper on deck by forcing Marinette and Adrien in a room and attempting to set a really stupid plot into motion (and no, I don’t mean they enforce a reenactment of Steven Universe or something). At the same time the villains finally do something, when Hawkmoth (now in New York) turns Techno Pirate into his latest minion and have him attack the museum to steal a saber by La Fayette as distraction, while he takes the charm he is out for. Long story short: Our heroes FINALLY transform and have to fight with Uncanney and Sparrow against Techno Pirate on the roofs of Manhattan.

And while I don’t think it is all that great of a fight, it still means something aside of Marinette cringing her way through the plot is happening and the heroes are actually in decent peril. Plus during the fight the movie gives me one of the funniest moments possible. You want to know what it is?

Well, while fighting the bad guy, Cat Noir and Ladybug obviously trigger their miraculouses. And what does Ladybugs miraculous turn into this time, to help her develop a strategy to defeat the villain and save the day?

A bikepump.

... yeah, I am going to give all of you now 5 minutes to laugh it off. Believe me, I needed them too.

Sure, it is a cartoon and I doubt anyone working on the show is even aware of our favorite uncare bear, but come on. At this point the universe itself is either mocking Dobson or tries to set up the perfect opportunity for an obvious joke from my side.

Not helped by the fact that once the bike pump shows up, the dialogue between characters that follows is, and I quote:

Cat: A bicycle pump? What are you going to do with that?

Ladybug: I may have an idea, but you wouldn’t like it

Anyway, believe it or not, the fight actually ends with a surprising shock moment. Cat Noir, while having his cataclysm powers active (you know, the powers that make him decompose anything he touches), being thrown by Techno Pirate at Ladybug, resulting in Uncanney protecting her and being turned into scrap metal. Which in turn causes Techno Pirate to make the acquaintance with Majestia’s fist, as Uncanney is more or less her adopted daughter and I guess she has seen what was going on (but did not interfere because the plot says so) until now, pummeling him so hard he flies through a few buildings and causes at least three 9/11 to happen on this day in New York.

So, yeah. Uncanney is dead. The heroes experiencing their darkest hour in the movie.

… welp, can’t have that for long, so less than 2 minutes later Ladybug uses the Magical bikepump…

5 minutes of laughter later

Got it out of the system? Good. As I was saying; She uses the fetish toy to reset all the damage done by the akumatized villain and in doing so fixes Uncanney too.

Welp, that was a waste of tension. Guess someone watched the entire Lars dying thing from Steven Universe.

So, damage undone, but Majestia and Night Owl pretty pissed at what happened, want Ladybug and Cat Noir to give up their miraculouses (I assume that is the correct plural) until they leave New York. You would expect this to result in some dramatic chase scene or confrontation with the older heroes, but because this movie has just like 22 minutes left and we need to close act two now, our heroes instead flee and end up in the sewers of New York.

There they do NOT team up with a group of mutated reptiles, but have a heart to heart talk (I never thought I would agree with Dobson on something, but I have to agree on this: The show is kinda fixated on having important stuff happening in sewer channels) that is sort of an argument Cat Noir and Ladybug also had during the fight. You see, because those two idiots haven’t figured out their respective civilian identities yet (something even Sailor Moon would have figured out AFTER THREE SEASONS!) Marinette assumed that Cat Noir would be in Paris while she is in New York to keep the city save. And Adrien/Noir was okay with making the promise of keeping the city initially save, because his dad only allowed him on the trip the day after he made the promise. So when the two transform out of sight of the other in New York and meet, instead of asking some logical questions (like “where is Marinette/Adrien and why is Cat/Ladybug here?”) they kinda argue wtf Cat is doing here while Paris may be in danger.

Long story short, she is angry at him, he feels guilty for having disappointed her and the thing with turning Uncanney into scrap, Paris was attacked by Hawkmoth’s secretary unleashing temporarily some monster clone because Hawkmoth thought that distracts the heroes in Paris (and really just results in damage that makes a city that experienced the destruction of Notre Dame the year prior just feel numb) and because this is the turning point in the plot, our hero needs to do something just a bit too melodramatic. Which is that Adrien gives up his powers and runs away.

… so, up to the final part in which things to care about start to happen.

Hawkmoth now has the Miraculous and unleashes its Kwami who is this eagle themed little thing referring to itself as the “Kwami of Freedom”.

… Yeah, this thing was NOT around for the last 200 years, wasn’t it?

Anyway, it states that its powers are based on “freeing” people of limitations to achieve their full potential. What does that mean practically? It means that when Techno Pirate holds its powers on top of his regular powers increased by being akumatized, he can unleash some energy attack that removes moral inhibitions when getting hit by it.

… So it basically unleashes the Purge.

Which is exactly what happens to Majestia and Night Owl, turning one into Man of Steel Superman causing nine additional 9/11s on top of the three prior (how the fuck did this movie manage to turn an American tragedy in a measuring unit?) and the other into All Star Batman.

Oh and it turns the President of the USA into a worse war monger than people accuse Trump of being.

Oh, this is NOT going to sit well with anyone...

… Yeah, sidenote: The president of the USA in this movie is essentially Michelle Obama who ALSO is a superhero with an American flag theme and besties with Majestica and Night Owl, trying to protect the exchange students. Because supposedly NOTHING better needs to be done. Once she gets hit by the “Freedom Feathers” or whatever you want to call the Kwami power, she pulls out the Football and activates turrets all over the USA, ready to blow up anything that moves into smithereens. Including at least 10.000 such turrets on the roofs of New York and a nuclear missile in the bay near the Statue of Liberty.

I’ll take it to the people with the eagle not the dove. If there is one thing that obedience is symptomatic of, it’s W-E-A-P-O-N-R-Y... WEAPONRY, from above!

(BTW, the rocket is animated like shit!)

I get the feeling someone on the production team is not the biggest fan of America.

Anyway, with the heroes being useless and Marinette and Adrien mopping around for what happened during the battle (and Adrien being tricked by his dad to leave New York and get back on a plane cause this town is not save and Adrien can’t fucking stand up to his emotionally abusive father), Uncanney and Sparrow have to get the ball rolling so the day can be saved. Which means that Sparrow and Ladybug try to fight and distract people for time (off screen mostly), while Uncanney hijacks Adrien’s plane and brings him back to take up the gimp suit of Cat Noir again. Oh yeah, almost forgot, Uncanney, cause she is a robot, has figured out easily who Ladybug and Adrien really are cause scanning. Making our heroes literally dumber than a walking toaster.

So the four finally together, fight Techno Pirate on the Statue of Liberty a second time (after some hijinx with another corrupted hero whose power is literally to create portals through doors, but he is irrelevant for anything so I skipped him up until now) and defeat him. He loses the Miraculous, Sparrow takes it on and becomes its next official owner, resulting in her costume turning into THIS

So now we have the native American girl turn into an eagle based superhero with a costume that looks like out of a western based Lego set.

Real talk here: Unlike Dobson I do not believe that everything is political or offensive or some other shit. In fact I hate his comic where he talks about “skin color changes” of the black characters in Ladybug, because he essentially tries to create a race issue and tension where there is none, just because he is a social justice moron. Which gets especially funny when his ideas for a progressive female results in characters like the black rat pirat who kicks you in the face for being hetero or infantilizing the characters of Patty to make them visually more appealing to Max Karson.

That said, in this day and age, doing a character like that… kinda yaiks.

Like, on one hand I think the girl has an enjoyable personality and the design of her hero outfit is okay for a kids cartoon. It’s not like she also talks in some cartoonishly native way or has suddenly a tomahawk as a weapon.

On the other hand, it is kinda stereotypical from multiple ankles and unfortunately there is nothing to the character past this point. Oh sure, Sparrow has now Miraculous powers, but really, all she does now is just use her powers to nullify Techno Pirates influence on the adult heroes before Majestia manages to reenact the bad ending for Majora’s mask and that is it.

Granted, there is Hawkmoth also almost starting World War 3, but that is really just happening at the site and dealt with almost instantly. To be more specific, because Ladybug and Cat Noir did not hand over their Miraculous, he lets Techno Pirate launch one of the missiles near the Statue of Liberty (worse president than Trump, honestly) but before the thing can hit anything, Majestia sweeps it away and throws it into the sun.

You know, if the show writers want to make Adrien’s dad even remotely “sympathetic” or interesting/intelligent, they increasingly fail. Cause I don’t know about you, but causing World War 3 does not really feel like it will benefit in bringing your comatose wife back.

Bottom line: Nuke has been burned, Techno Pirate gets defeated, all the damage reseted, Sparrow is now the official owner of the latest Miraculous and renames herself Eagle, everyone is happy, there is a big celebration for the class and Hawkmoth is convinced there might be other missing Miraculous all over the globe he wants to get his hands on, meaning season 4 may have more globe trotting Miraculous “action” once it starts.

And also the last scene of the movie shows Eagle and Uncanney meeting some other guardian of the Miraculous box who wants the Eagle charm, but she seemingly convinces him to team up, solidifying that this one hour “movie” was really just a backdoor pilot for a tie in series about an American centered heroine that is so big, a freaking monster truck could pass through this backdoor.

Yeah, if you can’t tell, I am not a big fan of what I saw.

Look, I will openly admit that my opinion on this is in large parts already tainted by me not being part of the demographic which enjoys the show. So this was never going to be considered “good” in my opinion. That said, I tried to be neutral to it for the sake of fairness. And I kinda failed.

Sorry, but I genuinely do not think this is a good “movie”. First, with barely 65 minutes I don’t really consider it a movie and more of a tv special meant to lead into the next season of the show. Second, I expect of a movie based on a tv show to have slightly higher stakes and presentation value to it than what you would expect from any average episode it has to offer. Which this thing doesn’t. Oh sure, the animation is slightly improved in some scenes, but overall just the same. And frankly, the writing is just still as “bad” as in the original show, if in parts not even worse. Aside of the typical stables, such as the cringy romance that does not move forward but is kinda on the forefront, the main heroes stumbling more or less into the situations instead of being more active in their duties, Hawkmoth not even in a movie having a genuine plan aside of “get this, see how it will help me defeat two kids and fail”, the movie also just never manages to induce a proper escalation of conflict to make it feel like something “special”. For example, we have a shitton of temporarily corrupted heroes. Do Ladybug and Cat Noir ever properly face them off at one point or have meaningful/fun interactions with Sparrow and Uncanney or each other outside of the first three minutes of the movie? Nope! I can name a few movies based on animated shows that gave me enjoyment, even those following basic shonen anime rules. But this one isn’t really among them. And taking into account that I consider at least the Steven Universe movie enjoyable in a dumb way, that says something.

There is also just the fact that it takes away from Ladybug and Cat Noir too much. Sure, I don’t like the romance stuff with them because I think it plays out in some of the cringiest way possible. But I would have been okay with them or other already established sidecharacters doing other stuff and having to face some conflict that is centered more around them.

Instead the movie finds this bizarre disbalance where it focuses too much and yet too little on completely new characters, that feel shoehorned in to create a starting point for a spin off, making Cat Noir and Ladybug secondary characters in their own movie.

I mean sure, I have seen many shonen anime based movies where there is a set of “movie only” characters interacting with our heroes, but they don’t take too much away from the heroes being heroes. Say what you want about the 13th movie of any long running shonen anime, at least Luffy, Naruto, Son Goku etc. are still the central characters of their respective franchise affiliated flic. Here however we take too much away from Ladybug and Cat, while at the same time focusing also too much on their “struggle” as Marinette and Adrien (or rather just Marinette making a fool out of herself while Adrien is utterly obvious to her behavior) while the major heroics are reserved for the movie characters only, that this entire thing should just be renamed “The Adventures of Mummy Robot and Not Robin, also starring two underaged kids that Dobson is obsessed about!”

All that said, I will give it a few things.

1) Uncanney and Sparrow/Eagle, despite my jabs, are kinda enjoyable in terms of personality. So are their partners/parents (Majestica and Night Owl are actually the (adoptive?) mothers of their sidekicks and also a couple openly caling themselves love, so yay, L(GBT) representation) and if the show would ever decide to focus also a few episodes on other characters aside of Ladybug and Cat Noir, I wouldn’t mind to see them. I just don’t think they are the most original characters out there and I think I may speak for some fans of the show when I say it sucks, that when it comes to the “action” within this “action adventure show”, they take up the spotlight from the actual main characters.

2) The fight scenes against Techno Pirate were okay overall. Nothing mind blowing animation wise but okay for the standards of this franchise.

3) Eagle’s costume design is not the worst despite my jabs at it being “stereotypical”, at least under consideration of cartoon designs (again, I can think of more offensive shit from the 90s or the Dobbear himself)

4) Well, it wasn’t for me, but I can say it was at least still on the same level of quality as the show. Make out of that comment however whatever you want.

My verdict: Three out of five Dobson’s would approve this movie. The other two would rant about stereotypes and be too busy incest shipping Majestia with Uncanney based on one shot of the movie. And none of them would acknowledge the flaws that make the “movie” a badly disguised jumping point for a spin off that makes the Equestria Girls look subtle.

Hope you got some enjoyment out of this rant that ironically may have been overall more retarted and detailed than anything Dobson may ever say in regard of this movie.

#miraculous ladybug #movie #marinette dupen chang #andrew dobson #so you are a cartoonist #syac #movie sperging #animated movie #sucks #mock #review #adrien x marinette

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 4 years

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Psycho Analysis: The Moonchild

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

I feel like this one was inevitable. As soon as I decided to bust open the doors on literary mediums like books and comics, this guy was always going to loom over me. Well, let’s just bite the bullet and talk about him.

In the final portion of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Centuries, we are introduced to Oliver Haddo’s ultimate creation… a creation he is incredibly disappointed in. You see, the Antichrist or Moonchild is a whiny, miserable young adult strung out on prescription drugs because he went mad after realizing what he was being manipulated into. He is the subject of derision by all who know him, and is treated like a punching bag by most of the narrative, up to and including God literally telling him he’s a bitch. Our villain here is just a miserable, whiny, kind of misogynistic brat who doesn’t even want to be a villain, and in general is just unpleasant and ineffective save for a school massacre he pulls off.

Oh yeah, and his real name is Harry Potter. Kind of an important detail, that.

Motivation/Goals: So as the antichrist, you’d think Mr. Potter might, you know, maybe want to bring about the end of days and all that. But no! He actually pops pills and isolates himself in Grimmauld Place so that he doesn’t do that! He doesn’t want to be the Antichrist and, really, who would? Most of his screentime is thus spent whining, until he ultimately decides to embrace being the Antichrist because he feels he has no other choice. We’ll get into all of that in a bit, but honestly, his motivation is extremely weak despite the incredibly graphic setup we’re given to his downward spiral: when he first discovered he was being manipulated by Satanists, he went on a magical school shooting, shown to us in a first-person perspective to emulate the games that were often blamed for real school shootings. We get to see Harry slaughter Ron, Hermione, Snape, Dumbledore, and so on, we get to see what he did to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express, and absolutely none of it is pleasant.

With setup like that you’d expect maybe a little more intrigue and indecision, maybe some sort of conflict between fate and choice or something beyond Harry sitting around half-naked, high off of antidepressants, being a whiny little bitch, but you might be giving the dude who wrote a porno where the kids from Peter Pan engage in underage incest a bit too much credit.

Final Fate: So Harry has gone absolutely bonkers and it seems that nothing can possibly stop him; our heroes seem to be written into a corner. So what does Moore do? He has God - who in this universe is Mary Poppins - descend from the heavens and have her say how she protects the imaginations of children and how she just straight up hates Harry. Never mind that Harry is quite literally an abused child who was twisted by the cruel machinations of a body surfing wizard, apparently he’s a child not worth protecting or caring about and is unworthy of sympathy. Anyway, Mary Poppins just turns him into a chalk drawing and that’s the end of that.

Great writing, Alan Moore, critically acclaimed creator of Watchmen!

Best Scene: Saying Harry here had a ‘best scene’ is seriously pushing it, because literally every moment he’s on the page the comic just beats you over the head with Moore’s biases. I wish I could put the school shooting sequence, because the idea behind it is legitimately intriguing, but the whole sequence is just interwoven with Moore whacking off his hateboner for the series. But on the subject of boners… well, I think there’s only one panel that can truly and adequately sum up this entire character and how much of a miserable failure he is. Those who have followed me for a long time knew this was coming, but for the rest of you, behold - Harry Potter Dick Lightning:

Final Thoughts & Score: Quite frankly, this is the worst thing Alan Moore has ever done.

I’m not even mad as a fan of Harry Potter; Moore was honestly ahead of his time in hating the franchise to this level. The issue I have is that he doesn’t really deconstruct or criticize in any meaningful way, he just is doing edgy “take that” stuff that you’d expect from a chump like Garth Ennis. Like, the concept here is incredibly solid and intriguing - this version of Harry has been groomed from birth by Satanists to become the Antichrist, with all of his adventures fabricated and all of his relationships manufactured to keep him under the illusion he is a hero to mankind. Upon discovering the truth, he snaps, massacres everyone at his school for their role in his manipulations, and went into exile to stave off the apocalypse, although he ultimately and bitterly accepts his role because he feels he was never given a choice… and he wasn’t! He’s an incredibly depressing and miserable deconstruction of the concept of “The Chosen One,” and yet the whole thing falls apart on multiple levels.

The first is that the Harry Potter franchise already deconstructs the concept of “The Chosen One;” the text goes out of its way to point out that Voldemort’s own actions are what is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by targeting someone with the will and drive to fight back against him. Harry’s not so much chosen by fate so much as forcibly chosen by an evil manipulator… and that’s basically what we have here, but with less substance. Moore doesn’t really comment on anything, instead leading into the second big issue - Harry’s whole role is to be a strawman punching bag villain so that Moore can complain about modern fantasy franchises. Moore seems to view Harry as the epitome of the lazy regurgitation of the same story over and over that modern blockbuster culture so often falls into… except that Harry Potter was an original product developed by one person and had no artificial longevity slapped onto the franchise in the form of unneeded sequels or spinoffs to extend the lifespan of the franchise at the time Moore wrote this. Throw in the fact Moore just in general seems extremely contemptuous of any post-70s pop culture in Centuries and how Harry is ultimately taken down by crusty old characters from older literature really just leads to Moore coming across as a grumpy old man who hates anything new, not helped by his tired criticisms of millennials and their perceived lack of culture. Maybe Moore would have had more of a point if he created this storyline today, but he didn’t. Thus, he has no point and he just looks like a miserable old fart.

Sure, you can argue that maybe Moore’s basic parody of the character by exaggerating his tendencies to their logical extreme and attacking elements of the plot that had been criticized to death by fans to begin with has its place, and perhaps you could even say that the take in the comic is just an extreme take on how Harry acted in the fifth book, what with the lashing out at his friends and his general feeling of a lack of control, and there is some merit to that, or there would be if Moore’s own unrepentant bias didn’t undermine everything. Look, you can hate Harry Potter, but then why slap it into your work? It’s supremely cringey when people insert characters they hate into fanfiction and just completely derail their characters so that they can treat them like garbage with the narrative, and is that not what Moore did here? Is League not just public domain fanfiction? There’s a reason why I coined “Harry Potter Dick Lightning” as a phrase used to showcase a moment where a fanwork’s contempt for a character becomes so extreme that it not only jumps the shark, it rockets over it into the upper atmosphere. Any criticisms or messages Moore is trying to convey is tarnished by his blatant, seething contempt for the character, and that gets in the way of good writing and good storytelling. Having two characters express pity at having to murder an abused child who was warped by Satanists into being a tool of the apocalypse does not make up for how the narrative constantly mocks, belittles, and treats him like garbage to the point he really can’t function as an effective villain that can be taken seriously.

All of this adds up to what I’d argue is the absolute worst villain in all of fiction, bar none. There is just not a single redeeming quality about the Antichrist as a character. None. Nothing. I cannot think of another villain that so completely fails on every single level as this one does. He doesn’t work as an antagonist because most of the bad things he does are offscreen and he doesn’t come into conflict with the heroes until the very end, and most of his screentime features him doing nothing of note. He doesn’t work as a critique, because he is acting as a criticism for things his character never really represented in the first place. He only really functions as the sort of garbage you’d see in My Immortal, where the characters you know and love are turned into evil jerks because the writer hates them - but he even fails at being that, because at least My Immortal is funny about it!

I am going out on a limb and saying that there cannot possibly be a villain that so utterly fails at everything it sets out to be as hard as Harry does. I don’t even want to try and believe it. And so, without hesitation, I am giving Moore’s shallow Potter parody a 0/10. And I pray to Mary Poppins that this is the only one of those I ever dish out, because I really don’t want to imagine what could possibly be worse than Harry Potter Dick Lightning.

#Psycho Analysis #Harry Potter #the league of extraordinary gentlemen #Alan Moore #Centuries #The Antichrist #The Moonchild

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midgetmeredith · 4 years

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PLEASE STOP REPOSTING MY EDITS!

Instagram account @sakurauzumakie (and others in the past: @antinaruuuhinaaa on IG / Haruno Uzumaki on FB, etc.), you have:

Yet again visited my blog with the intent to steal my edits and seemingly decided to ignore my numerous posts previously communicating how devastating and immensely discouraging it is to have my work reposted without permission or credit (even so much as implicitly inferring the edit is yours through captioning ‘to follow you for more’ and adding audio), moreover for such to receive significantly more reception (100+ notes on my original creations < up to 16,000+ views on your reposts which have cropped my watermark and failed to acknowledge me, as well as allow oppositional responses that I have not been able to counter so as to defend myself or my mocked work).

Thus enabled Naru/Hina fans (including those I have specifically blocked due to prior harassment) to see my edits and also repost them to be ridiculed and ripped apart in some blathering shipping feud, having provided them the scope to find my original posts and attack them directly as well. In reposting such outside of its intended space, this has opened up my work to hate and ridicule, to hurtful and derogatory comments; exposing a hobby with a simple and non-monetary purpose to please, to invasive vilification and hostile consumption.

What’s more is that it isn’t just my work that has been reposted – it’s the beautiful artwork of our fandom’s many talented artists, who already don’t receive the praise that they deserve. As I’ve stated before, having your creative content reposted (especially without credit or simply requesting permission/notifying the OP) is crappy and insanely demotivating. I personally put so much time, effort and passion into my GIFs – I have to find the right scenes to convey the emotional purpose of the gifset in the most effective way possible, download the highest quality episodes that I can find, create specific and detailed PSD colourings that accent the work, cut and blend or fade frames together from often entirely different segments of the overall franchise, etc.

We’re a smaller fandom now, so enthusiasm is lower than it was and our work already receives limited acknowledgment. We should be supporting the content creators who still pour their heart and soul into making new material for us to enjoy. If you want to share that work elsewhere, at least ask permission first and please provide proper credit, for goodness sake! I adore NaruSaku, so I wanted to continue to see our fandom thrive and help contribute to that. But I’m making edits in my own free time from my master’s degree, only for the above to happen? It’s defeating. Idk, I can’t justify this anymore, at least not for now. You pay for Photoshop and create the content yourself, reposters.

#narusaku #meredith murmurs

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lastsonlost · 4 years

Link

After the first episode of "The Mandalorian," the Disney Plus series in the Star Wars universe that became the top streaming hit of 2019, aired on the platform, some Twitter users expressed frustration at how few women spoke, and how few female characters there were in general.

Some of those who tweeted, including well-known feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian, were met with dogpiling and waves of harassment across social media platforms.

The harassment largely stemmed from anti-feminist Star Wars fan accounts who rounded up and highlighted tweets under the pretense that those complaining were "outraged" social justice warriors trying to tear down a successful Star Wars franchise.

The harassment is just the latest instance of feminist fandom voices being shut down online.

Anita Sarkeesian is no stranger to online harassment,

YEA SHES VERY GOOD AT MAKING THEM.

being one of the central figures in Gamergate, the online harassment campaign that resulted in her receiving numerous death and rape threats, along with bomb and shooting threats at her events. But even she was surprised at the amount of vitriol her tweet about "The Mandalorian" received.

After watching the first episode of the Star Wars series for Disney Plus, Sarkeesian tweeted asking if she was just tired, or if there wasn't "a single female speaking character in the first episode."

She was exhausted, Sarkeesian told Insider — missing the one scene where a woman spoke and making a typo in her tweet. In the replies, Sarkeesian corrected herself. Then she went to bed. In the morning, the tweet had more than 3,000 replies. It currently has close to 7,000.

"Maybe you should switch to The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills... I'm sure you'll find much to relate to there...." one top reply read.

"No wonder you're so tired. They say you should stretch before making such reaches, especially at your age," said another, with more than 1,400 likes of its own.

It's an example of dogpiling, a type of online harassment where, on Twitter, someone's replies outnumber likes and retweets, and are mostly filled with repetitive, hurtful comments.

"It's ironic. Women, especially feminists, get accused of being emotional and angry and all of these things when all we said was 'Hey, I noticed this thing. And it's kind of a problem, and I think it's really bad for our society,'" Sarkeesian told Insider. "If they didn't reply to it, my tweet would have just been gone. They made it a much bigger deal."

Sarkeesian is the most prominent figure facing dogpiling and harassment in response to her criticism of the series, but she's not the only one.

People with and without large Twitter followings, some who are verified and many who are not, have found themselves overwhelmed with anti-feminist replies and messages across platforms after tweeting about how few women are in "The Mandalorian."

Specifically, in the first episode, there's one female character wearing a mask who speaks, and two female characters total, along with a few women spotted as extras in the background of shots. More female characters are expected to play larger roles in future episodes.

"Even if you want to give the show the benefit of the doubt and say there's some big, wild justification that's going to come around in episode 7, it feels wrong that the vast majority of this world is populated by men or male-identified characters," Sarkeesian said.

Star Wars fans have a history of harassing women online when faced with criticism

Online harassment in the Star Wars fandom, particularly of women, is nothing new. Actresses like Daisy Ridley and Kelly Marie Tran of the latest Disney-owned Star Wars trilogy have recently talked about the negative aspects of the Star Wars community.

Ridley, who stars in the newest Star Wars trilogy as Rey, "cut off" her Facebook and Instagram accounts "like a Skywalker limb" due to harassment, and Tran faced racist and misogynistic harassment after appearing as the first woman of color in a leading role in the Star Wars franchise.

"It wasn't their words, it's that I started to believe them," Tran wrote for The New York Times after deleting her Instagram posts in 2018. "Their words seemed to confirm what growing up as a woman and a person of color already taught me: that I belonged in margins and spaces, valid only as a minor character in their lives and stories."

In the case of "The Mandalorian," almost anyone who tweets about the show from a feminist perspective is at risk of being targeted, because Star Wars fan accounts are rounding up tweets that criticize things like the amount of time it took for a woman to speak in the first episode.

One account rounded up 33 of these tweets with the caption "SJW's are outraged over the 'lack of female characters' in the first 2 episodes of The Mandalorian. A show with 3 female characters. Feminists only care about counting the number of minutes women are on screen in Star Wars."

Insider spoke with two people whose tweets were featured in the round-up, who said their tweets were mischaracterized, inspiring a wave of online hate.

Both of the people who spoke with Insider said they liked "The Mandalorian" and will continue watching it, but wanted to point out that it could be better in terms of female representation.

One woman who spoke to Insider anonymously, because she is trying to distance her name from the situation, says the harassment began several days after she posted her initial tweet about a lack of women in the first episode.

After receiving anti-feminist replies on Twitter, she also started getting harassed across platforms, in part because other anti-feminist Star Wars accounts picked up screenshots of her tweet after it was first included in the round-up and distributed to an even wider audience, including on Instagram.

One person even left a violent message for her in the email submission form on her professional website. It reads "People like you don't deserve a f---ing opinion, but at least I'm glad you can voice it. Doesn't prevent me from calling you f---ing r-----ed for spouting your misandry. HOW DOES IT F---ING FEEL C---? I hope you expire and never have children."

"I had to put everything on private, for my own mental health," she told Insider. "I just had to shut down my profile. I will never, ever, ever tweet about Star Wars again. And I love baby Yoda so much. But I can't. They won. Life's too short for me to fight this fight."

Even after setting her accounts to private, she was inundated by hundreds of follow requests on Twitter, along with DMs sent to her private Instagram.

Those who tweeted about female representation in 'The Mandalorian' stand by their words, despite the harassment

The person who tweeted the round-up of critics didn't want to share any identifying information with Insider, but did stand behind the tweet, and said they didn't participate in or encourage harassment, but the reach of the account became clear once Insider asked for comment in the replies. Within a few hours, a video had been uploaded about this article (which had not been written yet) to YouTube from a channel with more than 130,000 subscribers.

The video in question has been viewed more than 33,000 times and highlights the mentality in at least one corner of the Star Wars fandom that is male-dominated and is aggressive toward diverse media representation.

"What SJWs do is as soon as this kind of thing happens, they identify [the Twitter account that posted the round-up] as hostile to their narrative [...] I would call them left-wing garbage," the voiceover of YouTuber ComicArtistPro Secrets says in the video. "They are going to come in and write an article smearing [the Twitter account], 'Don't you dare shine a light on these cockroaches in such an effective way ever again,'" The YouTuber mocked, referring to the feminist critics as the "cockroaches" in the situation.

"This is a strategy that these sorts of anti-progressive, very regressive cyber mobs have used for years," Sarkeesian said. "They try to use social justice language against us when we try to bring these issues up but it's so transparent and so obvious what they're trying to do, by undermining our point. It's very bad faith."

Writer and programmer David Ely, a male who's tweet was included in the roundup, told Insider that his replies were pretty tame in comparison to Sarkeesian and the other woman Insider spoke to, although he did receive one unspecified death threat from an account that he blocked.

"Part of the response seems to come from a belief that Star Wars needn't be political. That it be pure entertainment," Ely told Insider. "Star Wars is a made-up universe. If gender inequality exists there, it's either on purpose, or because the creator's biases meant they didn't notice it. Either way, that's political."

Sarkeesian also stood by her original point that "The Mandalorian" should have more female characters, and said a lot of the negative response was because there's so much pushback from people who have historically been over-represented on the screen, and are hostile to the changing expectations for diverse characters that represent the diverse Star Wars fanbase.

"We are so accustomed to male-dominated narratives that it's easy to not even notice glaring omissions," she said. "Unlike if the entire cast had been women, I suspect everyone would have immediately noticed that regardless of what one's opinion would be on that casting choice."

MAYBE ITS NOT FOR YOU ANITA....

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kai-keda · 3 years

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So something on twitter got me rambling this to someone who I don’t even know whether or not they’re involved in the same communities as me or not and I kinda just realized this is actually a big problem.

Why are fandom spaces having age wars? Or would it be more appropriate to call it generational wars?

Basically what I’m going on about is how now that I’m 25 years old and have joined and become super involved with a relatively much newer community than any other I’ve been in before I’m seeing a lot of hostility.

Hostility thrown at me by complete strangers.

Okay, so, if you’ve known me for long enough you’d know that I’m used to people not liking me because of actions I did or words I said. Specifically I’m referring to that mega dark time in the Dragon Ball fandom when my mental health was unchecked, I was overly emotional and stupid.

When I say “Hostility being thrown at me by complete strangers” in this context I don’t mean it in that same sense. I mean people who only know my age and that I’m in their fandom.

With my previous fandoms they were things that a lot of adults were in as well because they initially joined said fandom as children themselves. This includes Dragon Ball and Naruto. So I never really had a problem with people hearing my age and running for the hills screaming since they were used to seeing adults. There were also communities with source materials that were geared more towards adults like Trigun.

Heck I was still more often than not on the younger side of any particular group discussion. At most I would be more in the middle of the groups age range and never the oldest.

That is until now.

See I’ve recently gotten really excited, obsessed, hyperfixated or whatever you want to call it with the MCYT content creators. I’m talking of course specifically about the Dream SMP stuff but also the creators individually.

I love the Sleepy Bois Inc group and the Dream Team and Fundy and Ranboo and Niki and BBH and Tubbo and just the whole lot of them in the right contexts honestly.

To me this wasn’t really anything new. I mean, once upon a time I enjoyed Yogscast but I was really young and not involved in the internet’s current world of fandom culture. Also, I never obsessed over them and their story. I was into other things at the time.

When I get really invested in something I tend to immediately go searching for a community to share it with and I’ve started following on tumblr and twitter a lot of wonderful fan-artists and analysts and shitposters and man the lot of you are so great. And I’m also subscribed to a LOT of animators on YouTube. I’ve been leaving as many positive comments ranging from pointing out the finer details of a piece of work to fully emotional responses as I can possibly leave.

And it seems like you guys are really awesome and open and friendly! You guys tend to reply to my comments and even if you don’t (which is totally fair! Don’t feel pressured, my comments are to make you feel good not a trap to make you interact with me!) you’ll leave a like or heck a heart on my YouTube comments to y’all’s animations.

Seeing my positive energy getting returned with positive energy gave me the courage to join some discord servers and I started, of course, with the official ones. Wilbur Soot was the content creator of this group of people that I watched first so of course by this point I was subscribed to him on Twitch. I was also subbed to TommyInnit so I joined their servers. I’m in a few other servers including SAD-ist’s server and Techno’s members only server.

I started out joining vc’s and chatting in text channels but it’s been quite a long time since I’ve done either of those two things (not including a stray opinion here or there being thrown into the DreamSMP Boundaries discord).

I’m pretty sure it’s been since early December since I’ve really interacted in ANY of these servers - including the much smaller non-official fan ones!

Why is that?

Honestly, I got tired of the hostility thrown my way at any mention or reminder of my age.

I’m 25 years old and when people in these servers hear that, a good chunk legitimately feel really awkward.

I was asked not once, not twice, but FOUR TIMES in a single night from FOUR DIFFERENT PEOPLE in the SAME VOICE CALL “Why are you in a fan server for a sixteen year old Minecraft streamer (referring to TommyInnit) if you’re 25?” with NO trace of irony and with complete seriousness and out of all those times only ONE PERSON defended me because they were in the call for the third instance only for them to leave, someone else to join and it to happen again.

And each time, the call went quiet and everyone waited silently for my answer. They were all legitimately concerned for the fact that I happen to be a fan of a streamer who happens to be younger than me.

And when I pointed out what I THOUGHT was obvious which was “90% of the other streamers he’s with and openly calls friends are also adults including Wilbur who is only one year younger than me and Philza who is seven years OLDER than me” only a portion of people responded with “yeah that’s true.”

The rest said “That’s not the same.”

I tried again to “explain myself” (we’ll get to how shitty THAT is in a minute) by detailing how I just genuinely think Tommy, and Tubbo as well, are fun to watch. They’re entertaining, they’re funny, they’re energetic, they work well off the other streamers and I also find them adorable the same way I find puppies and kittens adorable. Heck, I love referring to Tommy as a Chihuahua because he’s a tiny little child with a really loud bark. It’s funny and cute and that’s the appeal.

That got a few other people to relax but there were still some people who at this point just said “well, I still think it’s weird but whatever.” and continued on only with an awkward air of nervousness around them.

Alright so it’s really important for me to stress that being a fan of a content creator does not equate wanting anything romantic or sexual with them in any capacity and therefore there is nothing inherently “creepy” or predatory about an adult being a fan of a content creator who happens to be a minor. I get that that seems like a hard concept to grasp but it’s true.

I’m sure there’s plenty of musicians and actors y’all absolutely adore who you don’t want to marry and/or bang. Heck, I’m positive there’s a good chunk of you who love Miyazaki films. You love his work, you’re a fan of what he does, of his content and you’re a fan of him yet you don’t want to marry and/or bang him. I’m sure a lot of you also have really close platonic friendships that you enjoy.

Assuming I’m only a fan of Tommy to get closer to him and his fans who are minors for some gross reasons is really shitty. NEVER assume the worst in someone like that. Be cautious around adults on the internet in general, sure, but this particular attitude I’ve described is disgusting.

Anyways, beyond that though this rabbit hole goes deeper.

It’s not just people being concerned that an adult is a fan of a content creator who is a minor. People have actually openly shamed and mocked me for being 25 years old in these other servers. Including the one you have to pay monthly to get into in the first place!

And now I go on twitter and I see a post pointing out how silly it is for minors to push adults out of fandom spaces that are based on content created BY ADULTS and the replies are people arguing FOR THE EXCLUSION OF ADULTS?!?!

HELLO?!?!

Are you guys okay?!?!

How is me being a fan of Philza and wanting to interact with other fans of his weird and creepy?? THE MAN IS LITERALLY SEVEN YEARS OLDER THAN ME AND MARRIED WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

I heard that there’s been a lot of drama in the JoJo fandom recently where minors are trying to say the whole fandom needs to be purged of adults??? That it’s meant to be a safe space for children and teenagers?? THE ANIME JOJO’S BIZZARE ADVENTURE?!?! DO Y’ALL KNOW HOW OLD THAT FRANCHISE IS?!?! IT’S OLDER THAN SOME OF YOU!!

Should teenagers have safe spaces in fandom where they don’t have to worry about strange adults if they’re uncomfortable with that? Absolutely.

Should adults be shamed and kicked out of fandom as soon as they become an adult? Should “20” be the age where fandom must stop? Absolutely fucking NOT!

I want so bad to make friendships and be a part of a community of people who enjoy these dorky Minecraft streamers as much as I do. It kills me to open Discord, see all the activity in these servers and shy away at the last minute from joining in because of my age.

I’m rusty on this quote so forgive me if it’s not exact but this has been my life motto since I became an adult and accepted my place in fandom. I think a lot of you guys can learn from it:

“When I became an adult I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

- C.S Lewis

#long post #mcyt #might as well tag the fandom in specifically talking about the most #you guys seem like so much fun to talk and hang out with #i want to be a real part of this community #y’all are so nice and awesome until my age is discovered or brought up #fucking hell #and don’t say oh just don’t mention your age #cause then I just feel dishonest and like I’m being fake #fandom #discourse #I guess #Kairi Yajuu rambles #Kairi Yajuu rant

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moomingitz · 4 years

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If youre uncomfortable replying to this you can stop here. What are your thoughts on crushers Oc Lutrudis?

I’m going to paraphrase this right now. I never really feel comfortable saying what I think of other people’s creations like fan characters when someone who isn’t the creator asks me for my thoughts on them. Even when it comes to easy targets like Akiadahlia. I know fans are just doing this sort of thing on their free time as just a hobby, they’re not pursuing a career and they’re not getting a regular salary for it. For the average fan it’s something they do as a means of escape, and while I don’t really find much of a need to make Sonic fan characters myself most of the time(because there’s a stockpile of canon characters to work with) I do see the appeal in it.

But, I am going to make an exception here, due to how the creator clearly doesn’t respect other fan’s tastes or their works and efforts, saying lovely things like how I and other fans who like or defend characters like Chris Thorndyke have a “talent for seeing a character that doesn’t exist”, being dismissive of other’s AUs or interpretations of characters by saying “I understand seeing potential in a character but they may as well be a completely different character guuuys” but then expects people to write his personal favorites the way he thinks they should be portrayed, mocking and demeaning the very idea of people defending or unironically liking games like Sonic 06 and admiring it’s ambition it had, etc. And he still does it.

So if you really want my honest, unfiltered opinion of his fan character, I will break this personal unwritten rule of mine for this. But keep in mind here, that I will be talking about them in terms of their character design for most of the part, because I don’t really care to look up much stuff about them.

—-

Remember that one rant of mine a long while back, how “hooved” type Sonic characters, official or fan made, tend to be a big victim of the franchise’s Same Faced Syndrome thing in character design? Well this Lutrudis character is a good example of that. She’s one of the most generic looking horse Sonic fan characters I’ve seen in a long time.

She’s not only a good example of Same Faced Syndrome, but it’s also an offender of “informed species”. I honestly thought she was a cow until I read that she was meant to be a horse. This character doesn’t really have much of an actual significant resemblance to a horse, even as far as more simplified representations of animals go. She has more resemblance to the Sonic franchise’s takes on monkey characters more than she does with anything from the equus genus.

All I did was swap out the tail and ears and she instantly became a monkey.

To go even further and show just how cookie cutter it is, and the lack of an effort to make her resemble a horse in an actual significant way, that she may as well be a completely different species, here’s what she looks like when the only single modification I made was giving her a standard mammalian nose instead of there being visible nostrils.

She uses the same base body used for Amy, Sticks, Wave, Blaze, and countless other Sonic fan characters out there, and then slapped on interchangeable design characteristics. A perfectly spherical head with a standard Sonic muzzle, same standard almost triangular or curvy torso, and the same rubber hose arms and legs. It’s what I like to call an assembly line Sonic character design. Lutrudis here looks like she could have come out from the custom character thing in Sonic Forces. At best she looks like she could be one of the many nameless, generic looking background characters in post-reboot Archie that were meant to fill in the background space. If she was meant to just be a nameless background character than this would have been tolerable. But her creator didn’t intend for to be one. She’s apparently not only supposed to be a major character, but she’s also apparently supposed to be Sonic’s damn love-interest. So I will come down hard on this. And I hate to sound like some angry “fem-nazi”, but I’m also just sick of seeing female Sonic characters in official media alone using this cookie cutter design base in general.

I don’t expect people to be masters at designing more unusual species as sonic characters, but at least do something more than just adding visible nostrils on the muzzle. Give them a more unique head shape or body type more closely resembling a horse, or even just give them a unique muzzle instead of a standard Sonic one. Anything, please.

It’s like when I finally learned how Tiara Boobowski was actually intended to be a manx, despite looking exactly like the franchise’s idea of a hedgehog.

My not-so positive opinion of her character design isn’t just because I think it’s a poor representation of her intended species. I can get over Sonic barely resembling an actual hedgehog, Knuckles an echidna, because their character designs themselves look appealing. This isn’t the case with Lutrudis. I think she just looks kind of boring in general. She just doesn’t look that appealing to me.

The outfit and attire doesn’t look like it had much rhyme or reason behind it. It’s just kind of dull. The gloves are at least pretty unique looking, but unfortunately that’s undermined by how plain everything else is. It looks like someone went clothes shopping at Wal-Mart, buying the most plain basic t-shirt, shorts, and bandana, trying to dress up as their super hero alter ego, only to end up not looking as cool as they envisioned it would look.

Having both the tail and ponytail as not only the same shapes, but long, makes the silhouette look both kind of busy but also kind of redundant. Like looking at Snooki’s big hairstyle stacked on top of each other.

I don’t know what he was thinking with putting that green together with not only a bright ass primary blue, but putting that bright brown color together with them, but it doesn’t look the most pleasing to the eye.(Assuming he even designed the character himself and just didn’t have someone else do it for him.) They all look like they’re battling for dominance. Even with the lighter toothpaste green I’ve seen her colored in to break things up, the bright primary blue and bright brown still clash against each other.

And I usually don’t like to make presumptions about creators with their OCs, but, I get the vibe here that this guy is possibly just using Sonic more as a stand-in for himself with his OC. It’s always kind of brow raising whenever a person says they aren’t a shipper and think romance is icky, until it involves their own OC who was not only obviously tailor made to be their ideal waifu, but the canon character they’re pairing up with their OC is one they’ve said they don’t like.

What’s frustrating about this is how a species like horses aren’t used that much when it comes to Sonic characters, yet it’s done in the most safe and bland way possible. The character design does have potential, but whatever it is it’s held back by the common crutches people rely on whenever they design an anthro Sonic character, both official and fan made.

I really don’t expect fans to be pro artists or character designers. But when the creator of the OC in question is not only a rude elitist prick who shits on or demeans other fans for things like “seeing a character that doesn’t exist”, always complains about non-game Sonic characters having either boring or generic character designs, but also seems to really love jerking himself off over how totes unique and awesome his fan character is unlike other lowly fan characters or even canon characters; this is the best he can do? This is what he has to show for it? A bland, cookie cutter looking and sounding character? Believe it or not, but sometimes, “I would like to see you do better.”, is appropriate.

Though him and his ilk are probably just going to find any desperate way to make this about me being an evil Chris fan, and maybe even cherry pick one of my Chris redesigns to “prove” that I’m a hack fraud who has only ever done that and nothing else. If he is even reading this(I’m sure he is because he really loves hate follow people).

#character design #opinions #rant #awaits possible backlash #asks

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