#so creative...so meta...

[ritzy-biscuit]

FUCK GENERATIVE AI

Full article here

It's disgusting that we see more and more companies using AI to avoid paying creatives just to fill their own pockets. What hurts the most are companies like Wacom and Michaels and others, that are all about uplifting artists and creativity, using obvious AI.

Then you have these fake ass ppl using these generative AI programs calling themselves "artists" and scamming people. If anyone is on artist TikTok you might have come across a vid of a writer who commissioned an "artist" to illustrate a book cover. Poor woman found out the illustration was in fact AI after being urged by the comments to request the files and even the scammer themselves said they used AI. Something the scammer didn't disclose in their description. The writer spent over $1000 for this cover thinking she was commissioning a genuine artists.

The good thing is that artists are fighting back (and winning) and AI isn't copyrightable or protected.

[sunlight-shunlight]

pondering that falon'din is associated with an owl, and those are also messengers of andruil. and he's referred to as "winged death" which is also mentioned to be something that elgar'nan deploys against enemies. and both falon'din and andruil are referred to as venturing into dark places, where no one else can survive/wanted to go.

and ghilan'nain was not initially an evanuris, but was antagonistic towards them and making a bunch of weird creatures. she was given the offer to join them in return for getting rid of the creatures, and accepted. but with "pride stopping her hand" from destroying a few. and when asked about trusting people to share power, solas says "I know that mistake well enough to carve the angles of her face from memory."

solas also has nothing good at all to say about falon'din, mostly calling him a bloodthirsty tyrant who went so far in encroaching onto other evanuris territory that mythal had to besiege his temple and beat him up to stop him.

but he says nothing about dirthamen at all.

dirthamen is described as having gone missing unexpectedly, scaring all his followers, because they were now unprotected. and caught between their own high priest wanting to lock them into the temple forever like a cask of amontillado, and other forces outside that wanted to take their secrets by force. there is one note that a dirthamen follower defied the evanuris and took on a forbidden (probably a dragon) type of form, and was judged by elgar'nan harshly. he apparently also invented the varterral to protect his town from a high dragon? wack, but also could indicate that he had worked with ghilan'nain on making it, since she's the only one who's otherwise mentioned to be bioengineering stuff.

dirthamen has very very few surviving statues or depictions, and is more associated with falon'din than as his own independent figure in the dalish myths. even his own temple includes mosaics of falon'din. there's a few statues that are probably dirthamen, but the most striking is in mythal's section of the fade behind the eluvian, which is a statue of a hooded figure, doubled over with a giant sword sticking out of his back.

[greenheron18]

I think TCW fans could stand to get more comfortable using normal people names for their clone OCs. Normal people names for clones were really common in canon (both those that exist in real life like Rex and those that probably don't like Bacara), maybe because some clones were trying to choose normal names to prove their humanity. It's a new angle to think about! name that clone Lance or Jeff or Colby or Sheila.

[randomfoggytiger]

Is it just me of does season 8 and 9 feel more like a soap opera than previous seasons? Didn’t Chris Carter work on soap operas before The X Files? Didn’t he at one point vow that he would never turn the show into a soap opera?

This is in no way a knock on the guy, just a funny observation and I want to know if you or anyone else agrees.

I think melodrama, definitely.

Not all of Season 8, but it is present in parts. I think Scully's theme really contributes-- but then again, Gillian worked with Mark Snow to compose it, so she must have liked it.

If I were to take a guess: Season 8 was the first where Spotnitz and CC had to double down and write an over-arching story (they mentioned this once or twice.) It was also the first season where they both decided characterization came first, and serialized that-- in part to explore the characters' growth in Mulder's absence, in part to establish Doggett as a trustworthy replacement when Duchovny decided not to come back. Season 8 definitely had more... emotions; but they were deserved, I think-- Season 8 wasn't ONLY emotions (we'll get to Season 9....) Essence - Existence is where the "soap opera" REALLY peeked through. Hate most of that two-parter with a passion (NO, it did not happen that way.)

If I were to take an even more pointed guess: I think CC equates character exploration ('domesticity") with melodrama; but it's not a Season 8 and 9 exclusive thing. Gillian and David mentioned that they played their characters low-key because A. it was their acting style and B. because so much (shall we say) melodrama happens that it would become absurd, quickly. The purple prose and pastiche language was always there, for example. Season 8 and 9 were the same concepts with fewer guardrails.

If I were to take an even more zoomed-in guess: Season 8 was relying on characterization (in the writers' looser definition of that word) to flesh out the new dynamic in the show. Season 9, however, took those newer aspects and shaved off their substance-- i.e. a good reason for Mulder's absence, a good reason to explore Scully's motherhood, a good reason to follow Doggett as he becomes acquainted with the files and Skinner, a good reason to follow Kersh's new rise to power, a good etc.-- which left us with Cops and Robbers and Crying Mothers.

For as many faults as Season 8 had, it had a goal and a vision.. By Season 9, Spotnitz and CC outright admitted it was harder and harder to write X-Files episodes; and Spotnitz, at one point, even had to face a potential future of helming the ship alone if CC lost his gamble with the FOX higher ups (pay, position, another season, etc.) That vision for Season 8 excited Gillian and Mitch Pileggi and TLG actors and Robert Patrick-- it did the impossible by (temporarily) reviving GA's dying embers of enthusiasm. Season 9? There was NOTHING for Scully to do, there was no place to take the show-- because CC and Spotnitz wanted a MOVIE for Mulder and Scully (which DD and GA were on board for) and a series for Doggett and Reyes-- there was only barreling burnout.

So: Season 8 had a goal... but what do you do when you have nothing to do? TURN UP THAT MELODRAMA, BABY, TEN FOLD. Thus, S9 Scully weeps without abandon. Thus, S9 Scully can't make a solid choice because it will force the plot to develop. Thus, we are stuck with no forward momentum-- e.g. S8's find Mulder, mourn his absence, keep the pregnancy secret, bury Mulder, mourn his loss, bring him back to life, watch him readjust, watch him and Scully disconnect from the files in order to become parents-- and only the emotions, only the fatigue, only the S9 tears.

Only the melodrama.

[kikokus]

Lucci and Kaku: An Analysis

I haven’t done long analysis/meta/essay-style posts in a while, but after seeing a comment that amounted to “every time Lucci’s shown an interest in something that doesn’t have to do with killing, Kaku’s involved” it made me think about whether or not that's true and, more specifically, whether or not there’s been sufficient build-up to justify what happens in Chapter 1111.

So let’s explore, shall we?

First of all, basic disclaimer that I’ve been heavily into One Piece since 2008 and Water 7 has been my favorite arc since the first time I read it that summer. Kaku, in turn, has always been one of my top characters in the entire series for various reasons…but this isn’t about him (at least, not entirely), so all of that is just to say that I’ve thought about these characters a lot over the years.

And I think what always struck me about them is that not only are they so fundamentally different, but that realistically Lucci should not tolerate Kaku at all. He’s pretty much everything Lucci’s not, and they’re more-or-less a perfect example of the ‘someone will die…of fun!’ meme in a lot of ways (and honestly it’s what I think of every time I see this card, but I digress):

At the same time, what happened in the latest chapter didn’t surprise me, because there’s been hints all along, and I’ve personally been waiting years for it to pay off…even though part of me thought it never would, or at least not in the way it did!

Still, how did we get here?

But First, A Bit About 相棒

So. Why is the fact that Lucci calls Kaku his “相棒” (aibou) so significant? Mostly because of the…individualistic meaning of the word. It literally translates to ‘partner’, but not in a romantic/life-partner way (not to say that it has never been used like that, but it’s not the inherent meaning of the word).

Unlike words such as 友人 (yuujin), 友達 (tomodachi), and of course, with Luffy, 仲間 (nakama), aibou generally only refers to one person. You can have many friends, teammates, crew members…but only one aibou. So by calling Kaku that, Lucci’s already placing him on a different level to anyone else in CP9 or CP0 and acknowledging openly that Kaku’s important enough to him to have earned that distinction.

Which is why a lot of us were very excited about it, since this is not a common occurrence where Lucci’s concerned.

That aside, let’s get to the actual canon content.

Water 7

Obviously at the beginning we find out they both work at the shipyard, but that in and of itself isn’t entirely significant���until you consider that, since Kalifa is pretty much with Iceburg all the time and Blueno’s running the bar, the two of them are working in much closer proximity to each other than to the other CP9 members in the city. 

The first real indication we get regarding their comfort level with each other comes in chapter 327 when Kaku gets back from examining the Merry and goes to sit down to explain what he’s discovered. Paulie’s the closest to him, but he actually ends up stepping past both him and Lucci in order to sit directly beside Lucci on the same level.

It’s quite a while before we see the two of them alone again, and it doesn’t happen until chapter 339 when they’re speaking with Robin. Of course at the time we’re not supposed to know it’s them, but there’s really nobody else it can be since this is happening at the exact same time that Blueno’s talking with Franky and Kokoro at the bar. So, as will become fairly common, the two of them are again acting as a unit of their own within the larger group.

And then, of course, we get the infiltration of the mansion prior to The Big Reveal (which I’ve spoken about before because for me it’s still the single greatest reveal in the entire manga because of how carefully crafted it is, right down to Kaku’s limited dialogue in this section being completely devoid of his usual speech quirks in the original Japanese text). Once again, Blueno and Kalifa are doing their own things while these two are working together.

This panel has always been interesting to me because immediately prior to this Lucci says he can’t let Paulie live, and then he decides to just restrain him instead. In Luffy’s case it makes sense because they gave their word to Robin not to harm the Strawhats, but he has absolutely no reason to spare Paulie, and the little lines of shock/surprise beside Kaku imply that he hadn’t expected Lucci to do that, either. The ‘why’ is still unclear, but it’s interesting nonetheless, and it’s also…noteworthy that it’s the only thing Lucci asks Kaku to do. All of the actual damage Paulie takes comes from Lucci and he never asks for or expects Kaku to harm him.

I never connected these two panels before but it’s obviously very deliberate to have Lucci telling Iceburg that feeling emotions is a sign of humanity followed immediately by Kaku…demonstrating exactly that and thanking Iceburg. It’s important to establish that part of Kaku’s character, but keep in mind Lucci’s lack of a reaction here because it’ll come back later.

Again, very tiny moment, but there’s a lot of examples of Lucci deferring to Kaku or letting him take the lead without any hesitation, and I like this because Kaku’s noticed something that Lucci hasn’t and Lucci just goes with it immediately.

I’d forgotten about this but Kaku’s also the one that decides to take Usopp with them, first by recognizing him as one of the Strawhats and then going through with it even after finding out he doesn’t consider himself a part of them anymore. And Lucci just…stands back and lets him give out orders to the others while doing so.

Okay so this is what I was referencing earlier. Kaku shows actual emotions with Iceburg and Lucci’s silent, but the moment Kalifa gets even slightly happy about completing the mission he’s berating her instantly. Kaku’s expression here is interesting too because he looks absolutely haunted and it’s very telling.

And also another visual representation of Lucci and Kaku being equal to/on the same level as each other.

I didn’t include the panel but Kaku was ‘sleeping’ when Corgi was giving them all of the information about Nero while Lucci was (seemingly) wide awake, and yet Lucci has no idea who he is and relies on Kaku to have all the information. Which he does.

Kaku being the one to take charge again and direct the others even though Lucci’s standing right there. They do this more than I’d realized at first, especially since Lucci always seems to be looked at as the unofficial ‘leader’ of CP9.

Enies Lobby

We’ve made it to Enies Lobby, which is the first glimpse we get of these two interacting with the full CP9 group outside of any sort of ‘mission’ environment.

Mostly it entails Lucci being more combative (especially with Jabra) and Kaku being more annoyed, but again I can’t really imagine anyone else taking this tone with Lucci and getting away with it while Kaku does it fairly often and Lucci never retorts or gets angry with him.

And while Kaku’s not immune to taking Jabra’s bait in the right circumstances, his typical tendency is to de-escalate situations if he can and here he’s refusing to engage despite being deliberately called out…and Lucci, without being asked, immediately takes his side and defends his choice.

This is practically the next panel and while both Lucci and Jabra are kind of equally at fault for this little display, Kaku only berates Jabra for it while Kalifa’s directing her comments at both of them.

Now that I’m actually looking for these sorts of things it’s becoming more obvious, but again we have Lucci and Kaku in an equal position to each other at the front of CP9.

This isn’t just to Kaku since Kalifa’s there as well, but Lucci’s still encouraging them to eat the fruits and I have to believe it’s coming from a place of good faith because he’d know whether or not being able to swim is that big an issue in their profession. I also want to note that Kaku echoes Lucci’s ‘it’ll be fun’ line when he actually does eat his fruit, so obviously that resonated with him.

I’ve put these two together because they both highlight the same thing, that being in both of these sequences we get almost all of CP9 giving out their individual thoughts/comments on what’s happening but Kaku’s statement both times is a direct reply to what Lucci says, so again the two of them are paired off in a way that doesn’t include anyone else there. 

The only other thing of note in this section is that while Robin’s talking about what happened during the Buster Call on Ohara, Kaku and Lucci are the only CP9 members to kind of…break formation and actually look at her while she’s speaking, which is interesting.

And for the rest of Enies Lobby they aren’t together so there’s not too much more to say here other than Kaku of course being the one to have the actual key to Robin’s cuffs, but it’s never made explicit who came up with that plan or handed out the keys so…if I ever actually do the thing and write a full analysis of Kaku’s character we can talk about it then Lark you’ve been saying you’ll do this for years IF I EVER--

Interlude - CP9’s Independent Report

Besides the fact that this is still one of my favorite cover stories, there’s a couple of noteworthy things here, the first of which is that Kaku again is taking the lead. Even though he’s the only other CP9 member other than Lucci to be injured badly enough that he can’t walk on his own, he’s still the one directing them where to go.

Other than that, I love seeing all of them just…interacting like friends and being very relaxed and casual, and pretty much every panel where Kaku and Lucci are together they’re directly beside each other so I’ve included a bunch of those here.

Dressrosa & Egghead

The next time we see Lucci and Kaku is at the end of Dressrosa, where they’ve been promoted to CP0 Oda can we please get some explanation of how this happened and let me tell you, I remember this vividly because the spoilers at the time just said that Lucci was talking to ‘someone’ and when the raws came out you can bet I went right to the dialogue to see if it was Kaku because his way of speaking is so telling.

But even in this little scene, we can see they’re having an equal conversation and there’s a major difference between how Lucci’s speaking with Kaku and how he addresses Spandam mere seconds later.

After this we have the Reverie/Levely/what-even-is-this-thing-called arc where they get all of a single panel together and while it’s the first time we actually ‘see’ Kaku after the time-skip, nothing really interesting regarding their relationship happens, so let’s move on to…

The end of the colored manga! And Egghead.

We start with a very familiar situation: Lucci asking Kaku what’s going on, and while Kaku this entire arc seems more outwardly annoyed with Lucci than he ever was in the past (which is never really explained but then again, Lucci spends a lot of the arc doing things he’s specifically been told not to do, so maybe it’s understandable…), he still has all the information and relays it.

Though Kaku’s also much more comfortable letting his real personality show despite them being on a mission while before he was always completely serious after the Water 7 reveal, especially around Lucci. It came through with Zoro and Jabra but during the cover story he’s smiling and laughing a lot with Lucci right there so it makes sense he’d be more willing to let his guard down even ‘on the job’ by now.

So here’s the first real instance of Lucci showing concern for Kaku, something which escalates pretty quickly throughout the arc. It’s subtle, and though he’s framing it as a suggestion to Stussy, if he didn’t care at all he wouldn’t have said anything. 

At this point it’s fairly obvious that Lucci and Kaku don’t really have any authority difference between them and Kaku spends a lot of time in this chapter especially telling Lucci to Not Do The Thing. Anyone that’s ever lived with a cat knows how well this works.

I’ve always found this bit of dialogue particularly interesting because Kaku’s very openly…praising Sentomaru for choosing his loyalty to Vegapunk over assisting the government, and there’s no way Lucci doesn’t hear him say this but he doesn’t say anything in return. There’s no real evidence that Lucci knows about Kaku willingly giving up the key to Zoro or how conflicted he was about Paulie and everyone else, but this seems to imply that at the very least, even if he doesn’t share those sentiments, he wouldn’t think less of Kaku because of it.

Putting these two together since they’re in the same scene but at this point it’s not even subtle concern anymore, Lucci’s genuinely worried for Kaku and you can tell this caught him off-guard.

Kaku’s the first one to suggest working together but Lucci immediately backs him up and goes with the idea. It’s logical in the sense that it’ll give them the biggest chance to survive, but willingly working with pirates isn’t exactly the sort of thing that Lucci, especially in the past, would have so easily done regardless of the situation.

So at this point it’s becoming clear that this whole 4-v-2 section is supposed to be the most…light-hearted thing going on right now and a lot of it is played to be comedic, including Lucci’s inability to lie, but yet again there’s almost nobody else that could get away with scolding him the way Kaku’s doing here.

…And then we skip ahead a day and things happen that I really hope get explained at some point because they seem important, but while Lucci’s never going to have impeccable bedside manner, he’s very concerned with getting Kaku to rest and while Kaku’s trying to justify what happened Lucci really doesn’t seem to care about that. It’s a big departure from him being willing to write off anyone he deems ‘too weak’ and it’s a nice character moment.

I’d mentioned on my liveblog that some of the things Lucci was doing after this point were confusing, but if you look at them through the lens of him wanting to protect Kaku, it makes a lot more sense. Yes, he’s deliberately keeping him out of the loop, but Lucci I think has decided that he’s going to throw caution to the wind and act alone since if Kaku can’t prove he knew about the plan, he’s probably safer being left with the Strawhats, and if the Marines show up he should be safe anyway or so Lucci thinks…

When this chapter came out, I’d said something about Lucci being a hypocrite considering what the rest of CP9 did for him when they could have easily just left him at Enies Lobby, but given what happens almost directly after and likely what he’s trying to do with this entire fight, these words feel even less genuine…

And that brings us to this. The moment that I’ve been thinking about for almost an entire week now. The moment that, looking back at…oh, wow…almost 3000 words of analysis maybe shouldn’t be as surprising as it was for most of us, but it does feel like the payoff for a long, long buildup that’s taken nearly twenty years to reach. Because really, there’s no other way to describe them other than ‘partners’, and probably hasn’t been for a long time…and I’m so glad that Lucci acknowledged it.

To summarize, I think what surprised me most about re-visiting all of this is how much the manga has framed them as equals since the beginning even though it was never explicitly stated between the characters themselves. Lucci’s always been far more lenient with Kaku than with anyone else, and Kaku in turn has never had any fear of Lucci even if he wasn’t really expressing his true self with him for a long time.

The cover story being the turning point makes perfect sense, and the progression throughout Egghead of Lucci being more outwardly willing to show his concern and Kaku not hiding his emotions at all seems like a natural progression of their relationship and their level of comfort around each other.

And the fact that Oda is never really…hitting us over the head with any of it until that final moment when Lucci says everything so plainly because Kaku’s life is the most important thing to him even when faced with a literal monster… It’s so effective. 

I don’t know where we go from here. To be honest, I’m kind of scared of where we go from here. But regardless of the outcome, I hope this little essay has been at the very least interesting and perhaps allowed you to look at these two in a different light.

Thanks for reading.

[sucharandomwolf]

Copy abilities

-

So I’ve been working on these pieces, and this is all I’ve been able to draw and think of for now, but I saw a theory a bit ago that Meta Knight (given that Meta Knight seems to be like Kirby) once had a copy ability but chose to hone one ability; the sword ability. I got thinking, if that were the case, what if he still had that copy ability? Just never chooses to use it. If he did, how would it implement into his current skill? His wings? His sword? Thus a few of my ideas/headcanons for this!

Cutter Meta Knight - Cutter Meta knight’s wings would become useless flight wise. They’d turn into blades that can be shot out and return to him. His sword wouldn’t be affected by this ability, he’d simply have a long range attack because of his wings.

Fire Meta Knight - Meta Knight’s sword becomes engulfed with flames, allowing him to throw Flame Beams (much like his Sword Beam) from his sword. His wings are also engulfed in fire, still able to fly. With his firey wings, he can create a fiery shield around himself as well as being immune to intense heat

Ice Meta Knight - Like Cutter Meta Knight, his wings aren’t very useful for flight. However, they can create gusts of cold wind and snow, allowing him to create cover for himself and others if he build enough snow/cold to create a cold fog. His sword doesn’t change much aside from its temperature. It’s cold to the touch, allowing him to freeze his opponents when attacking (much like how Kirby can freeze them by his freeze breath) In this form, Meta Knight can withstand freezing temerature

-

Welp, that’s about all I wanted to share so hopefully these abilities work with Meta Knight :) I also drew these cause I wanted to draw my Kirby design in some Copy Abilities as well hehe

[jesncin]

With the recent Harley Quinn fart fetish comic announcement and subsequent harassment of the writer and artist involved, I want to make it clear that none of my metas, reviews, or criticism should ever be used to justify harassing any creatives involved. It shouldn't have to be said, but we live in an uncomfortable parasocial space where the accessibility of these creators that are just a tweet away means people don't know how to exercise boundaries. I've had at least one incident where someone absent-mindedly mentioned trying to get the MAWS voice actors to look at my MAWS criticisms. Don't. Do That.

While I've called out many comics or shows' portrayal of serious things like racism, ableism, misogyny, etc. in the past- at the end of the day these are fictional characters we're talking about. They're not real, but the writers are. Media criticism exists to encourage critical thinking and discussion. The stuff I write is for fans, friends, and other creatives to read. I'd hate for media criticism to be weaponized as a tool for harassment, because all it does is make us not want to talk openly about this stuff for fear of our words being appropriated.

[fatalism-and-villainy]

I said this on another post, but the ending of Quark’s arc is so depressing to me. The Dogs of War sees him going full reactionary and responding to Ferengi reforms by doubling down on his most conservative beliefs (and his misogyny). Which is disappointing given the show’s forays into his heroism and his inability to actually be an amoral and ruthlessly profit-oriented model Ferengi (like The House of Quark, or Business as Usual especially) but is also kind of sad in that it demonstrates how small he actually is, that the last bastion of Ferengi traditionalism is just his bar on a space station.

And he’s lonely. Both Odo and Rom have left the station by the end, and even though other people he’s close to (especially Nog) are still around, there’s distance between them because he hasn’t been through the war with them (while Nog has been fully brought into the Starfleet fold). There’s that exchange with Vic in What You Leave Behind about how hard it is to get left behind when everyone else is in battle, and “a bartender’s life is a lonely one” and “the person giving the party is never having any fun.” And while the other characters get decidedly bittersweet but still hopeful endings, Quark is just kinda stagnant and does not have a lot to look forward to except more of the same. And he’s in an ideological prison of his own making. It’s believable as a character direction but it’s still pretty bleak.

[qalanthe]

hawke initiating a surprise kiss to catch Anders off guard as payback for the clinic kiss 😗

[in-asterism]

wheee

[vigilskeep]

me and the 4 other da2 fans have been in a drought when will keir return from ostagar

every week i play ostagar again with a new warden and he has to go through that again because he’s also there. sort of a time loop situation . sad really

[sapphorror]

Zim, Dib, Gaz, and Tak are actually all horribly vindictive spiteful people to more or less equal degrees, but the interesting thing is that Zim and Gaz both exact vengeance in very specific, premeditated ways, which are often wildly out of proportion but once they feel like they've evened the score they will pretty much immediately forget about whatever pissed them off in the first place—whereas Dib and Tak are both ostensibly above being ruled by petty grudges, but very obviously boiling over with a constant resentment that sends them pouncing like rabid dogs at even the slightest opportunity or excuse to make the object of their ire suffer (and if they're both working towards their own self-serving end game that just HAPPENS to involve every terrible thing imaginable befalling their enemies, well... that'll just be a happy by-product of their personal success).

I don't I have any point to make here, I just like it when these freaks are all an overwhelming danger to society (and each other)

[dulacdat]

some appreciation for amc interview with the vampire and race.

idk sometimes its annoying to be in this fandom with its shameless antiblackness but came across this random comment on youtube shorts of all places and... yeah. it made me so happy. most reactions under the post were so normal and touching! in case anyone else is just not having fun here, reminder to look outside the hateful eco chambers <3

can not stress how much a show like this is needed, especially in times like these. I hope the writers never give up on the care they hold for minorities and welcome more of us into writing rooms, too. in industries where one character of colour or two queer characters feels like a lot of space taken, this show is a blessing (and we are allowed to demand more! give us more women!)

so, no wonder a predominantly white audience that gravitates towards queer romances is taking over every space and ruining experiences and understanding. black and brown fans aren't less intelligent because we apply "human morality" lmao, we are human. we relate to the experiences and make it a point to stress on them. its you who is the issue if you can't read the show. making it a competition about how to absolve the white or non-black characters serves no purpose.

anyway, it was pleasant to see people outside fandom spaces have normal reactions. I genuinely wish that the producers don't back down from the race aspect or any intricacies that make these vampires. don't give into the pressure and value the story!

[hualianisms]

something i find tragic and messed up is how XL's worst trauma and HC's worst trauma are the same event - XL being stabbed 100 times. why that was traumatic for XL is self-explanatory. for HC, witnessing that was so traumatic that it single-handedly turned him into a supreme ghost king. it was the trauma of being powerless, watching his beloved go through hell unable to do a thing to stop it.

this trauma directly parallels HC's original childhood trauma, of being powerless as a child who couldn't defend himself from his bullies and abusers. he hates himself and judges himself very harshly for being "weak" as a child, blaming himself for his own trauma. just see the way he treats e'ming (who i believe represents the emotions of his child self), the way he drew himself in his mural, and the way he treated the statue of hong hong-er in the extras, and you can guess how HC views his child self.

HC's trauma response was to spend 800 years becoming the strongest possible, extremely wealthy and powerful so that he can protect and provide for his beloved the way he never could when he was a human kid or a small ghost. he also wanted to be as strong as possible so that he never has to feel like that "weak" child again. the trauma of powerlessness truly shapes so much of HC's personality

[jesncin]

MAWS has made me wonder if some people put too much emphasis on a creator's passion for their work being an indicator of its quality, and if past examples of people praising media for "heartfelt, earnest, and clearly indicative of the crew's passion" were glossing over the skill, talent, hard work, and other factors that made it work. You can not deny the creators of MAWS had genuine love for what they made, yet I personally feel like this is a case highlighting how that alone is rarely enough for telling a competent story. I feel like this perspective has been bolstered by past instances of executive meddling to the point of critical opinions often being negated as "not understanding what hurdles crews had to deal with", even with shows like MAWS that had a lot of free reign with their decisions.

oh you are right on the money. "Love for the material" alone is not a marker of a story or adaptation's quality. Undoubtedly, the MAWS crew clearly adore Superman to such a point that they keep having to reiterate that they will not be including Batman in their show- they want to focus on Supes (never mind the rogues they stole), but all that love didn't translate to well written conflict (or dialogue, pacing, character motivation, etc) or a single solid episode.

Meanwhile STAS is often aptly described as "a Superman show written by Bat-fanboys" (and it absolutely shows, the episodes jump in quality when Bruce is around)- the crew even admitted that they weren't motivated to make a Superman show, it was something mandated. STAS certainly doesn't hold a candle to BTAS by a long shot, and I agree with DCAU fans who say "there's probably only 10 great episodes in STAS". But that's the thing. That's 10 better episodes than all of MAWS. Even STAS' worst episodes are still better written than MAWS. And this is coming from a crew that don't care for Superman to the same level. It's still a better show on the mere merit that the BTAS crew assigned to it are competent storytellers. They still created iconic original characters like Livewire which even MAWS ended up adapting.

There are a ton of mindsets to approach an adaptation of a source material as massive as the DC mythos. One of the most common pitfalls is what I like to call being "Married to the Text"- it comes from loving the source material so much that the creative is unwilling to make changes. That's one of the many ways loving the source material too much can hold a creative back. MAWS is the other direction- a ton of crazy changes that miss the point and potential themes of Superman.

tldr, Love for the Source Material doth not make a competently written adaptation. So many other factors go into creative writing.

[swordscleric]

I think as a result of their indecision, general dithering on every possible decision and inability to provide a single sliver of rationale behind the actions they have taken, I personally don't think we can judge Bell's Hells on whether or not their decisions are moral or not. Have they wishy-washily and passively avoided every hard question that could have been asked of them? Yes; but that speaks to a lack of interesting ideas and a lack of curiosity on their collective behalf in dealing with the scenarios set before them. I think if we judge them on anything it is the consequences of their actions (or inaction). Realistically, I reckon (depending on how releasing Predathos goes) they will be treated in a similar way to how someone like Vespin Chloras was treated by history - a damned fool whose actions lead to the annihilation of civilisations, the destruction of millions of lives and as such has been (rightfully!) condemned by Exandrian history as one of its greatest villains. Our softening of our view as a fandom on Vespin comes from his editing of Zerxus' pact to save the world from the rage of the Primordials. I think his actions, typical of the Age of Arcanum, echo Ludinus' fatal ideological folly in assuming that they would lead to prosperity due to a change in the divine structures of Exandria; Bell's Hells, having followed Ludinus' plan to the letter, now risk becoming as big of villains as Vespin Chloras for even worse reasons - a total lack of imagination and a deep unwillingness to engage with any hard question that would force them to face their lack of interiority as a party.