#but the tl;dr is that almost all of them suck horribly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writingseaslugs · 11 months

Text

I'm alive...kinda?

So it's been a while huh? Since the end of March actually, since I last posted anything. Which sucks because it was literally right after I was super excited to do a collab with a friend, as well as my plans for getting content out! So what happened you may ask (and I'm referring to the lovely people who are in my inbox asking and being concerned, I'm so sorry for worrying ya). Well, let me tell you!

Health.

Sucks.

So here's a quick TW because I'm going to go into detail about everything that's happened since the last time I was here under the cut. This includes both issues with eating (involuntary), as well as surgical stuff. There will also be a TL;DR at the end of this post.

So as I've mentioned previously (I think) I have chronic nausea. I'm almost always feeling sick after I eat therefore I don't really...eat much. Especially not when I'm working because I can't afford to be sick and have to go home (my job requires me to be on my feet, interacting with clients all day and I woke 9-hour shifts). So because I'm unable to get enough nutrients (normally I won't even eat until I get home from work, and if I do it's protein drinks and pudding during my work day), I'm pretty...weak most of the time.

Let me tell you, eating is so important to function like a human. If you don't you are tired, your muscles hurt, and there are so many other horrible things that go into it that I won't go into detail about.

My biggest problem with not being able to eat enough is fatigue. I am always tired and in a brain fog that writing is impossible. If I can even get the energy to open up my laptop and bring it to my bed, it's typically dashed the moment I open a Word document and can barely type.

I had maybe a solid good week or two a month back right after I went on vacation to see a friend (probably because I was able to eat regularly-ish due to not having to worry about being sick at work) however, like always, it was quickly squashed with reality and I went back to brain fog central, but I feel like it was worse this time.

I only had the energy to talk with three of my closest friends, and occasionally I'd have the brain capacity and energy to play games with one of them, but that's about it. I can't tell you how many times I had to cancel my weekly call with one of my friends from being too tired or putting off playing a game with my other because I just didn't have the energy to cross my room and pick up my controller. It was bad.

Most of my days off have been in bed, sleeping, and trying to eat. So it hasn't been great.

However, two weeks ago something happened. I had stomach pain. Which granted, I have had before. Not the normal nausea but physical pain that if you pressed on my stomach it hurt. I was even walking with a limb by the end of the day. It doesn't happen often but I'm stubborn and don't like going to the hospitals so I had always chalked it up to a "self-correcting problem". For years. Whenever this happened it would go away within a few hours (nine hours max).

So when I woke up the NEXT day and it was still hurting, something was a bit wrong. I called out of work because there was no way I would've been able to stand and made a small deal with myself that if it wasn't gone by the next morning I would...go to the doctor. I know, crazy that I was gonna wait to be in pain for nearly three days but I hate hospitals and I didn't have health insurance with my new job.

Well, this wasn't good enough for my mom and she convinced me to go. The only way she did that was she seemed concerned. Now I'm dramatic. Very, very dramatic. And also a bit of a hypochondriac so I always feel like when I'm sick or in pain I'm simply being dramatic and that it's not actually serious even though my anxiety is telling me I might literally be dying (the number of times I have almost passed out by standing up and brushed it off, or laid in bed and suddenly my heart rate was going off like I sprinted a mile and decided I was probably fine is impeccable).

So I go to the emergency room and they ran some tests and what would you know! It's my appendix. And it wanted to break up with me...how admirable. And apparently, it was way worse than doctors initially thought because I happen to have an abnormally high pain tolerance so when asked on a scale of 1 - 10 what my pain was I said a 3. Apparently, with how bad off it was, I should've been at a 10+ but oh well.

The surgery that they predicted would be no longer than half an hour ended up being an entire hour, and I got four incisions when they said I'd only have three.

So I've been recovering for the past two weeks and should hopefully be back at work on Thursday. Decided to make this post because for once I've been able to eat decent meals for a few days in a row since I haven't been at work, and my brain is actually working for a while. I'm hoping maybe it'll continue so I can start writing again (Writing Twisted Wonderland content is a huge comfort of mine) but who knows.

Maybe my chronic nausea will be solved and I'll be nice and healthy and be able to eat regularly. I can dream. However since I have had a lot of people in my inbox asking me where I've been and if I'm doing already, and how I've essentially ghosted several friends in the fandom since I just don't have the energy to message many people, I figured I should give you the explanation as to what happened.

I'm going to try to get a little bit of writing done today, maybe bust out a few requests. I'm a bit stressed out since one of my good friends is currently on their way to the hospital because she's also a sick bean like me, but also I know damn well she'd enjoy seeing some Twisted Writing so imma do it.

Thank you for listening to my ramblings! I love you all!

TL;DR - I got really sick and couldn't write and then my appendix said bye.

#slug speaks 💛

31 notes · View notes

just-antithings · 1 year

Note

sorry, i need to vent about the porn addiction thing a bit.

while i’m by no means anti-porn, i do think we need to encourage healthy engagement with it (which is honestly skewed towards a heavily anti-porn bias in american society, which is not healthy. you aren’t bad for looking at porn or finding it interesting/entertaining/arousing! and let me tell ya it hurts seeing people with perfectly normal porn habits thinking they’re porn addicts and thus horrible and going to hurt someone inevitably. the current views on porn and sexual content in america at least is unhealthy as all hell, and we have gotta change that.)

but i dated someone who definitely had a porn dependency, if we can use that term. he would bombard me with hentai and other assorted lewd stuff constantly, and got to the point that he wasn’t attracted to me anymore and lied about it or dodged the question. it really sucked. there were many other issues, but he was almost constantly looking at porn, to the point of neglecting everything else in his life, and refused to talk about his problems and called me crazy whenever i tried to express concern (i. e. are you depressed, anxious, do you need to talk, etc). there were a lot more issues than just the excess use of porn, but honestly it’s the easiest one to convey (it’s very difficult to sum up half a decade of abuse the same way as “he didn’t even want me to touch him because of it, and called me crazy when i asked if he was okay”). him making fun of me for all of this and publicly saying i was clearly hypersexual for wanting to be intimate with him is still a sore spot, honestly, and getting mad when i told him we needed to discuss the problem before it got worse still was a matter of huge frustration as well. no matter how i tried to express a concern, he’d deflect pretty hard. we were talking about maybe getting married before i broke things off, and i was ready to drop all of my dreams and wants for the future because he’d convinced me that was the best i could get.

again, i have zero issues with porn itself. so long as it’s all made by consenting adults, cool! hell, i make adult content myself— it’s something i enjoy, and people are willing to pay well for it too. but i feel we need a good term for when it becomes a replacement for other things in life resulting in neglect of those other things. while i agree addiction is the wrong term and has anti-porn roots (and i would also prefer to have a term that doesn’t blame the porn— or blames no one, ideally, as i said we have a highly unhealthy relationship with sex in america) i’m not sure what other terms would be. is dependency too close to addiction and/or still gives an anti-porn vibe?

like anything that brings pleasure to people healthy engagement is important, and that’s different for everyone. i just happened to be with a selfish person who used porn to the point of it detracting from his life and to the point of it killing my self-confidence.

if there’s a simple term for this already that would be rad. but whenever i see these arguments start i can’t help but think of myself and all the others who have had relationships wrecked by their partners preferring porn and masturbation over them. it’s kinda hard not to feel hurt in that scenario. is there a specific term for porn as a vehicle for abuse, maybe? or as a way to avoid being genuine with a partner? i suppose just selfishness, immaturity, and such are all terms to use, but in this scenario specifically i just want a term that isn’t anti-porn that can sum it up.

tl;dr, i’m in favor of porn and lewd content, i just wish there was a better term for people who use it to the point of distress and pain for partners and neglect of their own health, relationships, and spaces than one coined by anti-porn and evangelical groups.

i would love to be wrong on this and have some kind of thing pointed out that it was not in fact an addiction or dependency, it was xyz or abc or what have you. i don’t want to hang onto something like that when it’s not really what went on. it’s entirely possible i missed a ton of cues (god knows i still don’t know all of what he said that was lies and what was truthful) and he just didn’t want to admit to being asexual or something in that vein (if he thought it was a bad thing or something?? hell if i know, toxic masculinity is weird as fuck), but i don’t know anymore what to think. what are your thoughts? you can delete this if you don’t want to discuss it, and i don’t want to start a purity debate or anti-porn debate in your inboxes, either. i’m just… hoping that there’s a way to find nuance, because these kinds of things definitely happen. sorry for dumping all this in here. i just want to understand a bit better if anyone has knowledge i lack.

honestly it took me a long time to decide if i should send this or not, since i don’t want to cause a bunch of bullshit or to be disrespectful to anyone in this discussion. but i figure, too, people who are also in favor of nsfw stuff and against censorship would be best to ask do i don’t get a ton of bullshit about it? again, i apologize if this is all me overreacting or not seeing something obvious. i would love to be able to pinpoint something specific or have a simple way to sum up that aspect of the abuse. if i’m wrong i do politely ask for further reading or information so i can educate myself and learn. thank you for your time and again sorry for the lengthy message!

Porn addiction (as it's used nowadays) is actually a subset of sex addiction, and you have a sex addiction when it... starts causing the problems any addiction in your life causes. It is not the amount you consume - its how consuming it at all affects your life. Like even your ex, it wasn't that he was engaging in porn and liked porn, it's that it caused what sounds like numerous interpersonal problems, which is why it wasn't a healthy engagement.

Because healthy engagement is very subjective? Like I read. A lot of porn. I look at an insane amount of drawn porn because I'm Hella hypersexual and it's Soothing to consume the porn. But the amount of porn I consume isn't negatively impacting my life or relationships. I'm only not in my slut era and having random hookups because of covid and pregnancy risk (don't suggest I just fuck people without dicks that doesn't solve the covid issue yall, also i like dick) but I have like. Real Actual Problems from being hypersexual that looking at porn helps me with.

A lot of people equate porn addiction with the amount consumed. Its not. It's about how it impacts you and your life so tbh? I'd call it CSB (compulsive sexual behavior) and start... looking into resources about helping addicts use safely. Those primarily deal with drug use, but I'm p sure you can find non-ableist resources about how to help the addicts in your life in general. I included the links I looked at while answering this as a starting point. Wikipedia is sourced and the places those pages pulled from might also be helpful.

What happened to you was super fucked up, but tbh based on my knowledge of addiction and even just a little research into CBS makes it sound like he had a real problem he was struggling with and handling badly. But what his issue was goes beyond just. The amount of porn he was looking at. It was how it seemed to have invaded other aspects of his life and had very negative impact.

(one, two, three)

#addiction ment #hypersexuality ment #sex shaming ment #abuse ment #drug addiction ment #mod seraphim

30 notes · View notes

enchantedflower0 · 1 year

Text

Embraced by Darkness

Reiji Sakamaki X Reader (Smut)

CW: Fingering, vampires being vampires, blood, fem!reader, non-con, masochism,

TL;DR: Reiji need his sucky sucky

I was glad that he was so considerate, and I was grateful to have a meal, I was starving.

"So tell me about your day," Reiji said, "What did you learn today?"

"I don't know how to tell you..." I said, "It's just that I am not sure if I can write this well enough..."

"Oh?" He asked.

"Well... It's kind of embarrassing," I said.

"What?" Reiji said, "You don't want to tell me?"

"No," I said.

Reiji looked at me, and I could see in his eyes that he thought I was lying.

"What is it?" Reiji asked.

"I don't know," I answered, "It's just that I don't think I can do it..."

"Why?" Reiji asked.

"Because I am not sure if I am any good at it or if I can write it properly"

"Tch, why must you be so stubborn, I've brought you your food, I've kept the boys away from your room to prevent from interrupting your progress, and you can't give me a clear answer on how much you've finished?"

I lowered my head in embarrassment, biting my lip. "Sorry," I said.

Reiji sighed, "Well then, how shall you make up for it?"

my mind tried flipping through what he was asking for, I already said I wasn't going to show him my progress, so what did he want? unless he.. My head snapped up to look at the tall man

"R-Reiji.." I muttered

What I didn't expect to see from Reiji was a sadistic grin, "hehe.. whatever is the matter? you seem shocked~ you act as if I'm going to do something so horrible to you.." Reiji said with a smile as he placed his knee on my bed, bringing himself closer to me as I moved backwards on my bed.

"I don't want to," I said.

"Do you think I care what you want to do? silly girl~"

Reiji had fully crawled onto my bed, almost fully hovering over me. Reiji pushed my hair away from my neck, "I feed you, I am sure that you have pumping and thriving blood flowing through your frail body, and you think I can't have my own taste of it? You are certainly a vile woman.."

Reiji's lips connected with my neck, his soft lips touching my neck was a soothing feeling before I felt Reiji clamp his fangs deep into my neck

I cried out in pain and surprise. My hands went to his arms, gripping them tight as they gripped my hips. Reiji held me down as he bit deeper into my neck, and I couldn't help but moan as he sucked at my neck. My body trembled as I felt his hot breath against my skin, sending shivers all throughout my body. Reiji kissed my neck as he bit me, and I moaned louder, "Stop it!" I said, "you're hurting me..."

"Good." Reiji hummed against my neck.

I tried pulling away, but he held me down.

Reiji grabbed my legs, wrapping them around his waist as he lifted my body off the ground, "What are you doing?!" I yelled

I was still recovering from my shock when he bit me harder than ever, and I felt my body start to heat up,

"Such an immoral woman.. I can feel your blood boil on my tongue" Reiji sighed.

"Reiji.." I moaned out “Just a little more.” Reiji demanded, Reiji dropped me back onto my bed before I felt him guide his hands towards my thighs and he spread them apart, opening me up as far as he could.

I was so confused by his words but I continued to whimper under his ministrations, I didn't know why he would say such things to me.

"wha- No!" I protested right before Reiji dug his fangs into the flesh of my thigh

I screamed in pain, and I heard Reiji chuckle, "You are very obedient, but you should not be so shy about it... I wonder what you'll do when I bite you in the other leg, hmm?"

Reiji's tongue flicked my inner thigh, and I shivered, "Please stop!" I said, "No please don't..."

"Reiji..." I whimpered.

Reiji smirked and nipped at the inside of my thigh. "Is it good when I touch you here? Or maybe here?" Reiji licked the inside of my thigh making me shiver in pleasure.

"A-Are you satisfied?" I asked in a breathless voice.

"No", Reiji said before he pulled my panties down

"Noo!" I whined, "Stop it! Please!" Reiji stopped, but he didn't stop moving his hand, "Reiji.." I begged, "I can't take it anymore, please stop teasing me..."

Reiji chuckled as he looked at me, "What are you talking about, Do I look like I’m messing around? Do I look like I won’t punish you?" I felt a slight pressure at my inner entrance, and I knew Reiji was playing with my sex, I couldn't help but moan as Reiji teased me. I couldn't move as I whimpered, "Please stop..." I said, "I'm not ready..."

"I will teach you how to be a proper woman and how to properly please a man," Reiji bit me again, and I screamed even louder this time

My hips bucked against Reiji's hand, but he didn't stop. "Hush..." Reiji said to me, "You will learn to accept it."

"No..." I whimpered.

Reiji bit me harder, and I moaned loudly as I felt him press against my slit. His fingers slipped inside me, rubbing against my walls in a way that made them burn like fire, "Reiji..." I said, "Please stop..."

He pressed his hardness against me, and I felt his clothed cock rub against my bare hole. "Reiji..." I said, "please don't..."

I couldn't help but whimper as he kept pushing himself inside me, "Please stop, I don't want it..."

"Yes you do," Reiji said, and he bit my inner thigh, hard enough to make me squeal.

I felt Reiji's hips thrusting against me, and he was getting closer and closer to my center, "Reiji-" I said as I felt his hips grind against me, his clothed erection pushed against my heat drove me mad, "Please.." I whined "Are you still asking for me to stop, or are you asking for something else now?"

I cried out as his hips thrust into me, his free hand unzipped his pants and pulled out his dick

I felt his shaft slip past my wet walls, and I cried out as he entered me.

Reiji grunted, his hand gripped my hair tightly as he began to pound into me, and I couldn't help but moan at the feeling of our bodies connecting.

Reiji moved faster as he bit at my neck, "You're so tight..." He said, his thrusts quickened, and he thrust into me more harshly.

"Reiji..." I whimpered. “I won’t apologize for marking you up, everyone should know you’re taken by me." Reiji said, and he moaned as he bit at my neck.

I was so surprised by his words that I didn't even realize what he was doing until he bit me, and I felt Reiji thrust into me harder, his thrusts more forceful. I cried out as I felt him pull on my hair and bite down on my neck again.

"You're so hot and tight, your insides are so tight, you feel so good around me~" Reiji groaned.

His hips thrust into me harder, and he bit me harder as he fucked me harder, "M-Reiji..." I stammered, "S-Stop..."

Reiji moaned, biting me again.

I whimpered as he kept going, I couldn't hold myself back anymore, I wanted him to keep doing this, I wanted to be filled up by him.

"Reiji..." I whimpered, "Reiji..."

Reiji moaned, he bit me more harshly, drawing blood to leak down my neck and onto my chest. Reiji went to lick the blood off of me but I quickly pushed his head away, "Stop it!"

"Haha..." Reiji said, "I wonder if you'll beg to be marked by me, hm? Would you like it if I bit you everywhere?"

Reiji chuckled, "You're so wet, you're dripping all over me"

Reiji bit me more, and his hips thrust into me harder, I cried out as I felt him push into me more deeply, I screamed out as my orgasm hit me, the pleasure radiating through me, and I felt myself shudder as I came.

Reiji growled, he thrust into me faster, as I felt his dick throbbing inside me. "D-Dont.. Not inside p-please.." I moaned, and I felt Reiji bite at my neck, "Ahh.. Ahhh..." I gasped as my legs trembled, and I knew he was about to cum.

Reiji grunted as he thrust into me one last time, and I felt him thrust in me once more, I felt Reiji's warm seed inside me as he let out a deep breath.

Reiji groaned as he collapsed on top of me.

"Reiji, no!" I cried out, but I couldn't move my limbs.

"Awww, you're so cute when you're scared," Reiji mumbled as he kissed my cheek, "You're mine now."

I whimpered, and Reiji chuckled, "I've got my hands full with you."

I whimpered, "No..." I said.

Reiji laughed, "I know you're mine, I'll keep you forever."

#diabolik lovers reiji #reiji sakamaki #sakamaki reiji #diabolik lovers rp #diabolik lovers smut #smut #succubus oc #vampire smut

20 notes · View notes

youcouldmakealife · 2 years

Text

Status Update

I have an update! A solid update! With a date and everything!

(that date is June 21st and it will be when I am officially back! But Jared may appear…a little before that. Like a harbinger.)

I also have a veritable essay below the cut, and I am going to TL;DR right here and now: there are going to be fewer stories of the week going forward. For reasons. Further details (and reasons!) are said essay below.

I wasn’t just resting and…getting COVID…while I was away. I’ve used the time I’ve had for introspection (I know) and self-reflection (I KNOW) and watching the NHL playoffs (I am still me). Because what is almost completely malfunctioning if not a ‘maybe these are not optimal conditions for you’ wake up call.

So here’s what I introspected (actually a word! horrible word, really): I suck at deadlines, particularly for long-term projects. This likely isn’t news to you if you’ve been around here for awhile. It isn’t news to me either, nor would it be news to any teacher I had from elementary school on. Not really very introspection-y thus far. There are a few reasons my series are released part by part, but the number one reason by far is because otherwise I would likely never finish anything at all.

But: I really suck at deadlines, and despite knowing this about myself, I don’t make it any easier when it comes to publication by creating workarounds and keeping myself motivated by posting as I go like I do with series. Not that I really can in the same way -- hey everyone, who wants version 3.02 of page 36, I removed three commas, cut down a wordy sentence, and split one long paragraph into two shorter ones!.

But I do need to get better at breaking big scary projects into itty bitty pieces and setting deadlines for those and then actually abiding by those deadlines, rather than sitting paralysed with indecision (when I’m not industriously doing something else to productively procrastinate) and internally panicking and feeling overwhelmed and deciding that I, in fact, hate everything I have ever written and will ever write and — oh shit, I have a story of the week due tomorrow, better get on that instead. (So industrious with my productive procrastination.)

Which leads me to the next thing! I also have confused ‘what I am capable of doing’ with ‘what I am capable of doing indefinitely’ (they are not the same thing, sadly), and the general writing output I’ve been hitting (approximately 270-300,000 words annually, not including edits and rewrites and everything else) is — likely not a sustainable pace for my long-term health and longevity as a writer? And that’s not even my goal! My goal is 365,000 a year, and I never hit it, because that goal is ridiculous! And yet I keep on setting it!

It’s also an example of me getting in my own way. I have a bad habit of letting smaller, more time-sensitive pieces of writing (the stories of the week and month) get in the way of ongoing series and, much more often, in the way of behind the scenes work like editing and publication prep, because I constantly mistake how soon something is due for how high it should be on my priority list.

And there are…a lot of time-sensitive pieces of writing. Between the stories of the week on Patreon and Kickstarter, the stories of the month for Patreon, and the extras, we’re talking 15-18 stories a month, every month. That’s…a lot? That seems like a lot!

Maybe…too many?

This is not a ‘no more stories of the week’ announcement. First off — we made a deal! Second of all, I really enjoy writing them, and I think they’re actually one of the key things that keep me as productive as I am. Writing those prompts keeps the creative juices flowing when my active series aren’t cooperating, and the characters alive in my head even after I’ve finished their series. The outtakes mean that even when I’m not writing my Main Things, I’m writing something in the ‘verse. Also you may have noticed I am not very good at doing only one thing at a time. The variety’s part of what makes my job so fun.

But this is a ‘fewer stories of the week’ announcement. I’ll be writing about the specifics for each for patrons through Kickstarter (in the next email update) and Patreon (via an update there), but I’m cutting them down by about half. Bi-weekly stories. Stories of the bi-week. Odd week and even week stories?

The tumblr stories of the week are, at least for the time being, going to go on hiatus. This may be something I re-examine when I’m not juggling publication with ongoing output, but right now, that’s one of the things I’m going to be cutting down on. The story of the month on tumblr will continue though!

Kickstarter and Patreon stuff indented here!

The Kickstarter stories of the week are going to be bi-weekly, and the Weekly Update will remain half a lie, because it will no longer be weekly, but it will have an update included every time! A for real update! With the things I did…and stuff!

The Patreon stories of the week are also going to be bi-weekly. I’ll be moving those to Sundays just so I don’t fuck up constantly re: remembering which week is a posting week.

I’ll be getting more into the stories of the week and month on with a post on Patreon, with the full awareness that people may feel like it’s me changing the deal (it is! I am changing the deal!), and wanting to amend or remove their pledges. This is fine! I understand, just like I hope you understand that this isn’t a decision I’m making lightly, and is, I think, better for the sustainability of my long term writing career and my writing in the YCMAL ‘verse specifically. I am doing a short term pain for long term gain thing here. It sucks and I hate it because I want to do all the things but I know it’s for the best.

So yes. That is where we stand when I return! Which I am doing soon! But not yet, because right now I’m still working on getting back up to speed in a way that’s healthy and not liable to send me right back into the land of burnout because frankly I don’t much like it there.

Thank you all for being so patient with me as I’ve wrestled with this, you’re the best. <3

92 notes · View notes

socoolinmypajamas · 2 years

Text

This is something I have to take out of my system: Christopher Columbus is a VERY well made character in Fate/Grand Order.

His design is unique, his seiyuu is amazing, his performance gameplay-wise is quite good, and he manages to shine no matter the quality of the story. Every human trait he could be the embodiment of, he does it almost flawlessy.

Now, this doesn't mean he's someone we should love, like nor even feel something for that isn't disgust. And if we do, that's just us falling for his facade which, again, shows how well written this absolute bastard is.

In Agartha, a horrible story overall, he becomes our ray of sunshine during the first 3/4 of the story. He's the old rebel captain telling us to never give up and push through all the hardships, making the reveal that he's the worst of them, ready to kill and steal everything in sight, a fitting thing for his record as a "hero" despite being a genocider.

In Oniland, he got trick and ended up lost in a house of MIRRORS, which is hilarious when you think of all the stories in which he and other conquistadores scamed natives by trading GLASS beads with them. It was also a situation where his "never give up" trait shone, and we are again wondering if we should trust him or not. (Maybe I'm reading too far into this one but meh, worth poiting it out).

In Summer 3, he was scamming artists under the pretention of doing a fair trade, so we had to beat his ass. Again, good use of him.

In Fate/Grand Carnival and Summer 5, we see how his most positive trait mix with his hideous greed: In the first one, he's playing slots just to hit the jackpot, even if it lefts him bankrupt because he set his dream on hitting it, and will not stop no matter what until he does it. And in Summer 5, when we se a version of himself that couldn't reach his dream, he's... The same. Just because he couldn't archive his dream doesn't mean he gave up trying. It was just another example of how feral and determinated (obsessive) he could get to reach his dreams, the further away from them he is pushed.

And finally, his interlude. Probably one of the better written ones in the entire game. I'm not going to spoil this one because it really is THAT good and worth reading, but I do gonna say that every good and bad aspect of his character is explored, well used and detailed stablished without making him likeable.

Columbus' writting is consistent (hopefully it will in Summer 6) and does a great job portraying an irl villain that lots of people keeps thinking was a hero, even up to this day. He's a servant that only shows up in the Grand Order because it would be bad for bussiness if the Earth was destroyed, and while is ok (and encouraged) to hate him (because that's like, the whole point), I think is important to consider where does the strong feelings for a character come from.

Tl;dr: Columbus suck and I hate him but his FGO version is a fantastic fictional portrait of a historical figure.

#fgo #rider of resistance #colombus #christopher colombus #writting #character #analysis #historical figure #fate/grand order #fate series #gacha game #gacha games #fate #agartha #epic of remenant

46 notes · View notes

theendofuno · 10 months

Text

okay….haii tl;dr: i want to throw myself from a reactor nuclear and besides loving this page dearly keeping it daily isnt helping me with these kinda of thought so ill start a god-knows-who-long hiatus

now *puts a music box version of meltdown by iroha for dramatic purposes* *cleans throat* pretending im talking to an audience its easier for me okay dont judge me :(

i dont know how to write texts but ill try my best to explain everything without going into too much annoying stuff but the text may have a few suicide mentions here and there

okay

i created this page in a very dark period of my life that never went away, it actually worsened everyday. it was supposed just to be fun and games, "oh this character didnt got released this month, maybe drawing him everyday for a month until he gets here will be very funny!!!" *stares at 2 years*

as you can see, i didnt had ANY prepare to keep going for the long we did, but this is 100% not a complain

i really love this page, i really do love everyone i've met, i love having this project with my best friend, but i cant and wont lie: it made me VERY worse than i already was. it made me feel good, it made me feel loved, it made me feel human again, and at the same time it absolutely killed me

having to keep this consistence everyday, having to do good drawings, not allowing myself to do what it was better for my own health just because i didnt wanted to disappoint people with silly drawings when the first week was all cool drawings full colored with a bunch of details, references and etc

i really lost my count of how many times i had a terrible breakdown or even an attempt and my first thought was just "yeah that sucked. anyway i have to work so people will have some art tomorrow!"

and to be honest i dont think starting this page with my friend was…..that of a good idea. i know youre here just for their art. you dont need to lie i know theyre better than i am and you would prefer to see their art everyday other than mine. dont worry the feeling its mutual

but well theyre a slow artist and i wont be the one forcing them to draw everyday, i am the one that can do it and thats what i did for 300 days until now!

but that was something that kinda broke my feelings also cuz im very harsh on myself and keeping comparing their drawings to mine, not only the quality but also the different attention it all got (and sometimes it was almost a 20 likes difference so..sucks to be me ig) isnt doing good for my little damaged brain. its 100% not their fault tho and im not saying it is KJGDKFDK but if im going to be honest then i will

i dont know how to keep going the text tbh,, so,, my point is that im havent felt well since i started the page, and i love it with my whole heart, and these feelings have nothing to do with uno, grand chase itself, or the community (maybe a 2% fault go for annoying people from twitter /hj), im just being a little egoistic and doing this for myself or otherwise i can go completely insane and well. psych wards dont look funny :(

i really feel nasty, an HORRIBLE human being, absolute egoistic trash by abandoning the page, i feel SO FUCKING BAD for not drawing my son, by not updating here everyday and allowing people to see the silly stuff i do, but i guess i got to my breaking point where i just cant keep ignoring my suicide attempts by drawing and keeping my mouth shut (really, my last attempt was so scary i didnt fully recovered from)

yeahhhhhhh

i guess that was it

i pinky-promise i'll try my best to keep drawing and posting everytime i can, but it wont be daily, and it may not be weekly also, but i didnt gave up and i WONT gave up, this page is my absolute pride and joy and i cant just let it go away for a bad mental day. i still love and forever will love uno and drawing him, and i'll be forever happy for everyone i've met and helped me even without they knowing, just by liking or commenting on my stuff

i hope you guys can forgive me for abandoning stuff right now and i hope y'all dont forget me. i wont be mad if you forget me. i'll just be a little sad. maybe cry a little *stares at you like that ( ◕_◕)* but dont worry. its okay.

i'll be trying my best to get back posting daily at least around day 330, but dont put high hopes. please. dont expect much. bigs chances i'll be just dropping a stick man with a heart ahoge saying haiiiii and go back to posting silly ugly art

#daily-uno

4 notes · View notes

stormethecat · 1 year

Text

I saw the Mario movie yesterday and honestly it was really good! I give it like an 8/10.

Unfortunately I missed the first couple minutes or so of the movie because the theater was lined up with people, so it took a bit to actually get in haha. My friends and I all went dressed as Mario/Luigi too, which was awesome.

(spoilers under the cut)

tl;dr the Mario is very good and I want to see more

I was kind of expecting Chris Pratt's Mario to be not great, but surprisingly Fred Armisen's Cranky Kong was even worse. The only voice in the movie where I was like "wow this really doesn't fit." Now that I've seen the full movie rather than just the trailers I can tell that Chris Pratt at least tried. I still think that someone else probably would have fit better, but he wasn't horrible. Like even Charlie Day as Luigi and Seth Rogen as DK were pretty much just their regular voices, they still kinda fit somehow. Keagan-Michael Key's Toad and Kevin Michael Richardson's Kamek were spot on. Anya Taylor-Joy's Peach was serviceable—she sounds like a girl. And Jack Black's Bowser was freaking amazing. If I could tweak it a little bit to be pitched down slightly and maybe more growly then I think it would've been absolutely perfect, but as is I think he did a fantastic job. Charles Martinet as Giuseppe (basically Mario's design as Jump Man from the original Donkey Kong arcade game) was so great, and casting him as the Mario Bros' dad was a great choice.

The score was brilliantly done, the direction of having Koji Kondo as a composing consultant was an excellent choice, wouldn't have had it any other way. While I figured at least one pop song to show up, I think five has more than I was more than I was expecting. I'm not exactly bothered by it, but it was very noticeable haha. Also I wasn't expecting (yet not surprised) by the full on musical number that Bowser did performed by Jack Black. It was great lol, well done and got me to laugh. Also the DK rap was a welcome surprise, although Grant Kirkhope went uncredited which kinda sucks. Plus all the sound effects were great too.

The story wasn't intricate, and I keep hearing this as a complaint, but it's a Super Mario Bros. movie so idk what people were expecting on that front. It was a really fun ride from start to finish and I actually already want to watch it again. It's a great kid's movie and all the details, references, and easter eggs they put in for the fans of the series are greatly appreciated too. I wasn't expecting them to show so much of the Mario Bros' family or Peach's origins (which is to say not much, but I wasn't expecting any at all. And I also wasn't expecting them to show where the blue shells come from, so that's neat. I'm mildly disappointed at how large a chunk of the movie Luigi was captured. I understand they wanted someone to get captured because that's kind of Bowser's thing and they probably wanted Peach to shine on her own and do girl boss things, but I'm just disappointed that he was in a cage for like most of the movie.

The animation was also really well done if you were worried about that. I've seen some critics complain about that, but it almost feels like they watched a different movie as far as that point goes. The lighting was spectacular, the screen was almost always packed with detail, and the characters were expressive.

One last tiny gripe: Hearing the koopas being referred to as turtles more than once felt off to me. I know this complaint is such a nerdy one, but Nintendo has always gone out of their way to specifically call them koopas and not turtles. I usually only ever hear people call them turtles when it's someone who only vaguely knows about Mario. Having Mario call them turtles kinda makes sense since he's from Brooklyn transported to the Mushroom Kingdom, but Peach and even Bowser himself referred to them as turtles which was weird to me.

#blue cat blogging #mario #mario movie #mario movie spoilers #super mario bros #super mario bros movie #review #movie review

5 notes · View notes

ur-dad-satan · 2 months

Text

Y'all said you want some more me lore, so here we go!!

This will just be a tiny rant about someone in my life. I don't want any advice, and I won't be using their name for privacy reasons. Sit back and enjoy some tea about a crumbling friendship. <3

TL;DR: my best friend/ex sucks and I'm tired of his bullshit. I'm not saving this friendship anymore. I'm done.

So, I'm gonna preface this by saying that I'm gender fluid. I'm very open about it online and to my friends. I figured it out in 2021 or 2022 and I told my friends as soon as I was sure. One of my friends is a transmasc demiboy (B) and another is a cishet guy (D). Neither of them fully understands my gender but I think that's fine. I try to explain it as nonbinary but uses all pronouns as a simple way to remember. B understands this and uses all pronouns, masc titles and complements and everything and it makes me feel so affirmed and happy. D does not. He almost exclusively refers to me with feminine titles and things like that. It's not a horrible thing or anything, but I do like variety.

Now the main part: D and I have been friends for four (4) years this year and during that time we dated twice. I personally don't give people a third chance because this is life, not baseball. Despite me telling him that I don't want to date him, and I want to explore my sexuality and be gay and all of that, he still keeps asking me out. And then it's not even questions!! It's literally like "We should" rather than "Would you want to" or anything taking my opinion into account. He told asked me again today "You should be my girlfriend". So, I replied "Dude I'm barely a girl as is". I haven't really been feeling that fem as of late and I've been feeling mostly nonbinary in a masc way if that makes sense. Rather than talk to me like a rational adult about like "would you rather me say partner than girlfriend" or anything else he pretty much just goes "Oh. that's fine then." So, I asked him why it seemed like he only saw me as a girl. It was literally just asking, and I said that I was just curious, and he said that he had never really thought about it. That's valid. Then he way like "I didn't know you felt so strong about it, I'll leave you alone. ????? What the fuck do you even mean??

What are you talking about "feel so strong about it"? Asking why it seems like you're not acknowledging part of my literal identity? If I was feeling strong about it, I would have corrected you every time you called me something feminine. I would have asked you why you didn't once ask me if I was feeling masc or nonbinary or anything. Even if you didn't have the vocabulary, you still could have asked the "wrong way" so I could help you.

Honestly, I shouldn't even be surprised he has so little regard for me aside from when it benefits him. He didn't even tell me happy birthday when it was my birthday despite talking to me for a while that day. Why would the cishet man care about my queer identity? It's gotten to a point where I don't even want to salvage the friendship anymore. It doesn't feel genuine and it's making me feel like he doesn't even want friendship anymore. He just keeps me around in case I change my mind and date him again. That's not going to happen. Both times the relationship ended were because he ended it. The first time was literally because he said he "didn't feel the love anymore"??? What? Then I stupidly took him back. But then his reason for breaking up with me was having a lot on his plate and not being in the right mental space. That's completely valid, but I'm not giving you a third chance. We don't even want the same thing!

This has gotten way longer that I planned. It's a never-ending pit with this fucker and I'm over it. I guess if y'all want more of this kind of "lore" I have plenty or whatever. I fucking hate real men, dudes (gender neutrally ofc).

#rant #lgbtq issues #queer #drama #have some tea #gender fluid #nonbinary #all pronouns #i hate men #men suck #specifically straight men #my lore

1 note · View note

therealvinelle · 3 years

Note

What do you think of Jacob?

Jacob is, like almost every other character in the series (the exception being Mike Newton. I have no hot takes on Mike Newton), seen from the wrong angle. I could go into a whole thing about how Bella is an unreliable narrator, but this isn’t the post for that.

So, Jacob is supposed to be the easy-go-lucky, kind-hearted, and so very warm sun who brightens Bella’s life. And he is, at first. In Twilight and the first half of New Moon he is a sweetheart. He’s of course mortified by his father being so superstitious that he actually believes there’s a family of vampires attending high school in Forks, but otherwise life is good. Billy raised him well.

Then he turns into a giant wolf. He must now take up this mantle to protect the tribe he never even knew about, he’s a warrior whether he likes it or not. His life is not his own anymore, or at least it’s not the one he wanted. Anyone would be brought out of sorts by that.

More, he’s not allowed to talk to Bella anymore, and it turns out the Cullens were in fact demons this whole time. And Bella knew.

Take a moment to wonder what Bella’s entanglement with Edward is going to look like to anyone who knows what he is.

A beautiful young woman is seduced by a vampire. She believes they’re in love, and that blood-sucking demons are friendly people who care about her wellbeing. Billy tries to warn her, she tells him “I know exactly what I’m doing!” in a way that makes it very clear she has no idea what she’s doing. It would look like she was being groomed to become Dracula’s bride.

Even if they didn’t spell it out for Jacob, he had all the pieces he needed to jump to the worst, albeit reasonable, conclusions.

This is how we get the new and improved Jacob, who is angry, scared, and, when the Cullens come back, desperate to keep Bella away from them. (I won’t get into that here because I received another ask requesting that specifically.)

Now, I do think Jacob is very sympathetic. All the shapeshifters are, for obvious reasons, none of them deserved any of this.

However, I don’t think he’s a good person.

Take the infamous kiss.

Sexual assault is bad by itself, but what I find especially damning is his attitude afterwards. He’s not even remotely repentant. He laughs, he all but high-fives her dad, and he never does give Bella a proper apology. I don’t think he ever fully agreed to that qualifying as a sexual assault, as most assaulters won’t.

Later he blackmails Bella into kissing him by threatening to kill himself if she doesn’t.

He is pressed into a corner, yes, and he is a minor in an awful situation as throughout Eclipse his childhood friend, his dad’s best friend’s only daughter, complains that he isn’t more supportive of her choice to become a bloodsucking demon. However, that doesn’t justify this level of disregard for Bella’s feelings. It seems to me that it became less about Bella as a person, and more about getting the girl.

His feelings for Bella started out as a crush, but by the time we get to Eclipse it’s not just about Bella anymore.

I find this bit from Breaking Dawn especially telling:

“If you think that imprinting could ever make sense of this insanity . . .” I struggled for words. “Do you really think that just because I might someday imprint on some stranger it would make this right?” I jabbed a finger toward her swollen body. “Tell me what the point was then, Bella! What was the point of me loving you? What was the point of you loving him? When you die”—the words were a snarl—“how is that ever right again? What’s the point to all the pain? Mine, yours, his! You’ll kill him, too, not that I care about that.” She flinched, but I kept going. “So what was the point of your twisted love story, in the end? If there is any sense, please show me, Bella, because I don’t see it.” Breaking Dawn, page 122

Bella is dying, and Jacob’s thought isn’t “Don’t you have things to live for?”, but “What was the point of me and Edward fighting over the girl if the girl is just gonna die anyway?”

It reveals a disregard for her as a person.

It’s not just Bella: when Leah joins his pack in Breaking Dawn, he tries to kick her out simply because it’s Leah and she sucks. He’s an ass to her, and it’s unwarranted. She has to bare her soul for him to realize she’s a person. It’s a startling contrast to how he acts around Bella, his dad, or Charlie.

I think Jake is a dick who shows pretty clear abusive tendencies, not at all the healthy sunshine he’s supposed to be. His frequent use of aggression and guilt-tripping to get Bella to do what he wants comes to mind. He only looks good because his competition is Edward, and I’m not going to give a guy props for being a better dating prospect than vampire Patrick Bateman.

Then there’s the truly damning moment, which is when he decides to kill Renesmée.

The killing of a child is a monstrous act on its own, but he fact that it’s Bella’s child makes it even worse. It’s the ultimate proof he doesn’t actually love her. She died to protect this child, and he’ll kill it.

Jacob is a very sympathetic character who was put through things no one should have to live at a very young age, I do feel bad for him. He’s put in an extreme situation. But he tried to kill a child, and there’s just no coming back from that for me.

More, I think that the ugly things we see in post-phasing Jacob are perfectly reconcilable with the sweet-faced youth he was. People are complicated, we are one thing in one setting and another in a different setting. For a person who turns out to have abusive tendencies to be a perfectly lovely person on the surface is not exactly unheard of.

Jacob is a great guy up until the going gets tough. And when it does, his response is not good.

TL;DR: It was never Team Edward or Team Jacob, they’re both horrible.

EDIT because I forgot one of Jacob’s greatest hits that should absolutely be in this meta: When the Cullens want to leave Forks, move away (as the shapeshifters and Jacob’s father especially always wanted), Jacob realizes Renesmée will leave. Can’t have that. So he sends Charlie rushing to see his daughter. His newborn vampire daughter. It’s a complete miracle, and in no way thanks to Jacob, that Bella didn’t kill her own father.

Jacob has no excuse for that. None.

#jacob black #twilight meta #twilight renaissance #bella/jacob #to be clear: i think the other quileute characters (the ones we get to know that is) are great people #it's just jacob who's awful #Anonymous #ask

341 notes · View notes

pennylogue · 4 years

Text

Steven is a Diamond, and that’s okay.

So, Steven’s way too caught up in the fact that he’s a Diamond right now, and therefore a hideous and overpowered monster who can’t hope to be understood by normal humans or normal gems. Let’s talk about that.

For all Steven’s enthusiasm to be a Crystal Gem and to demonstrate his powers, he’s always been weirdly ashamed of how being half-Gem affects his ability to live alongside humans. I don’t think he’s ever really decided how to feel about it. It’s only after seeing Steven growing substantially and changing his hair and getting diamond eyes, now that it’s clear that his physical form is so malleable to how he thinks of himself and what he wants to be, that it really hits me how growing up with Greg and around so many humans has affected his identity. How sort of…quietly unhealthy it was, to go around with his gem covered up all of the time, and his appearance so determinedly human. I mean, think of how upset and ashamed he was when he decided his inhuman aging would screw up his friendship with Connie.

Right now, Steven is a whirlpool of self-loathing mixed into repressed issues and trauma with the Diamonds and hatred for his mother, and because he’s feeling so disconnected from and alienated and misunderstood by both other humans and other gems, because his gem powers are being triggered by his trauma, he’s connected some dots and blamed it all on being a Diamond.

Looking back at that quiet “No,” at the end of “Fragments”, it’s easy to identify it as one of horrified realization. And you know, this is the logical conclusion of Steven’s feelings about his mother in “Mindful Education”, of “Storm in the Room”, of “Volleyball”—but it’s also the sum of a lot of other things:

Peridot: The Diamonds are the Gem matriarchs! …We live to serve them.

The culmination of Peridot flipping to the Crystal Gems is tied directly into her rejecting the Diamonds. Diamonds are introduced as the symbol of everything wrong with Homeworld.

Garnet: “How dare you fuse with a member of my court? You will be broken for this!”

…

Garnet: Pink Diamond thought for a moment, and then laughed; a wicked, empty sound. “You wish to save these life-forms at the expense of our own? Ha! Don’t be absurd. Return to your post, and I will forget your insolence.”

Diamonds are shatterers. They hate fusion. They hate Earth and organic life. They hate Garnet. They’re the evil queens in Garnet’s fairy tale.

Garnet: The Earth belonged to Pink Diamond. Destroying her was the only way to save the planet. For Amethyst to be herself, for Pearl to be free, for me to be together. For you to exist.

Free will and the Diamonds are utterly opposed. It might be a tragedy that Pink Diamond was killed, but she was a monster, like the other Diamonds. The ultimate enemies of the Crystal Gems.

We got almost five seasons of the Diamonds being spoken of this way. You see how terrified every Gem is of the Diamonds, whether they worship them or despise them.

And then we found out a) Rose Quartz was one of them. And b) that Steven is one of them.

Hey, quick question–anyone remember what Sapphire said, right in front of Steven, after the reveal?

Sapphire: Of course she was a Diamond. What a long road she took, to torture us all like this...

…Yeah, we never really got his feelings on b, did we?

I think Steven was so overwhelmed by everything else that was going on and everyone’s reactions, and later so eager to jump on the chance that being seen as one of the Diamonds gave him to fix the corrupted gems and help everyone, that we’ve never really seen him process this realization. Steven drew a very clear line in the sand. The Diamonds are the Diamonds, and Steven is Steven. The Diamonds are wrong about everything, so they’re also wrong about him being Pink, the same way everyone else in the series who’s called him another name has been wrong. He’s not Rose Quartz. He’s not Pink Diamond.

Except…that second part isn’t true. Sure, Steven has a human body. Sure, Steven’s not the original Pink Diamond. That doesn’t mean he’s not a Pink Diamond.

But it was easy back then, right? Because Steven was so, so different from them. A Crystal Gem. A defender of fusion. Weak. Small. Human-colored. Harmless. And as Steven says in the finale promo:

I don’t hurt people. I help people.

Yeah, there’s no way that building an incredibly black-and-white mindset with impossibly high standards for himself to create and hold on to a sense of identity was going to backfire.

So yeah, we never really saw Steven process that he was supposed to be one of these terrifying rulers. Except now he’s hurting people. In fact, it seems that all he can do is hurt people. And since he’s only able to see the bad things he can do, the amount of horrible power he has and how isolating it is and how terrifying it is–of course he blames it on what’s always seen as the source of so many horrible things.

No wonder he’s having an identity crisis! He’s always told himself that he’s different than the Diamonds. He’s better than them. He has to be. So if he’s doing everything wrong, if he’s a freak, if he’s a shatterer, than it’s because he’s a Diamond. He’s just like them. He’s just as bad as them. He’s just as much a monster as the Diamonds are.

It’s complicated, what’s going on. Steven’s very, very wrong. But he’s also, strangely, right on target.

The thing is, this isn’t happening because he’s a Diamond, it’s because he’s human. He’s experienced trauma while growing up and is trying to react to it in a very human way. He literally has PTSD and CPTSD, and if you’ll look up the symptoms you’ll see he’s showing all of them. He’s not a monster. He’s part-human, so his symptoms are manifesting in partially inhuman ways. And that means he just happens to have the power to do a lot more damage than other humans when he lashes out in a way that is, once more, very characteristic for humans. But you know, even the best of humans can do a lot of damage, too, especially when they never really get over trauma. After all, Greg sure did a number on Steven.

The flip-side of this is that the hilarious irony of ancient magical rocks trying to treat themselves as perfect and inhuman alien beings has always been that, that in reality, they’re every bit as fucked up and human as humans are. That’s the whole point of the Crystal Gems and the Homeworld Gems. Remember back when Garnet seemed so perfect? Peridot seemed pretty alien and unfeeling at the beginning, right? Jasper, Topaz, Aquamarine, it goes all the way up to the Diamonds.

The whole point of the Diamonds and why the old system was broken was that the Diamonds tried to present themselves as perfect beings without flaw, when in fact they were all just as much a disaster as every other Gem. Remember back when Rose Quartz was a flawless goddess? Yellow and Blue were terrifying when we first saw them, but then we saw them comforting each other at the Zoo. They’re literally just a screwed-up family grieving and dealing with the death of one of their own–White’s first appearance painted her as this terrifying and totally inhuman being above even Yellow and Blue, but in the end, every one of the Diamonds is a normal, flawed person…just vested with the power to do a lot more damage than most.

The thing about White, was that she was so sure she had to be perfect, that she had to make everything better, but in the end, the solution was just to…let go. Accept that she was imperfect, and live with the consequences of it. Let other people help her. Stop trying to fit into being something she’s not, and just let herself be who she is.

Does any of this sound familiar?

All four of the original Diamonds had destructive powers. All four of the original Diamonds experienced a change and made a conscious choice to control themselves and try to stop using their powers to negatively affect others. White Diamond might be stuck being White Diamond, but as “Homeworld Bound” made clear, she’s also the only one who gets to decide what that means.

So you know what?

You can call Steven half-Gem and half-human, but that doesn’t really describe what he is. He’s a human with a Gem. A Gem with a human form. None of that’s good or bad. It is what it is. And as much as it sucks to be different from everyone else, he’s also the only one who gets to decide what being different means to him. Steven Universe isn’t Rose Quartz and he’s not his mom, but just like he’s a human, he’s also Pink Diamond, and that isn’t bad.

And I think that’s what he needs to hear from everyone. The solution at Steven’s birthday party wasn’t to react to the situation they were in and cheer him up the same way you’d cheer up a baby. He wasn’t just a baby, he was Steven stuck in a body that he didn’t know how to control. What he actually needed was to hear from Connie that she wanted to be there for him, no matter how strange he was.

He needs the people he loves to stop telling him he’s “better than” his trauma and his diamond powers, to stop freaking out at how much damage he can do or treat it like a problem to be fixed. To not tell him that they know he’s going through, they’ve been there, too. They haven’t, and that’s not what he needs to hear. He needs to hear that none of what he is is bad. That his loved ones will be there for him and will love him unconditionally.

And I think that’s what will allow him to accept himself; accept that if he’s a Diamond then he’s also a human, if he’s human then he’s also Pink Diamond–and, just like the previous Pink Diamond, he’s the one who gets to decide what that means.

TL; DR I actually really hope diamond eye Steven is permanent for non angsty reasons. This kid needs to stop being ashamed of his identity.

#steven universe #steven universe future #suf #suf meta #steven universe future meta #homeworld bound #homeworld bound spoilers #su spoilers #su future meta #su meta #su future #character analysis #the pennylogue #fun with diamond parallels #kind of

3K notes · View notes

zukkacore · 3 years

Text

Whitewashing in AtlaLok: the Western & Christian Influence on s2 of LoK

Ok, so i’m not a big brained expert on all things indigenous or even all things asian but I do think bryke's christian & western worldview seeps so far into season 2 of LoK that i think out of every season it’s by far the most unsalvageable out of everything they’ve ever done in the Atlaverse and is a very insidious kind of whitewashing. I know that sounds hefty but here’s what I mean

For the record, I’m a mixed filipino person & while there is religious diversity among filipinos, more than i think ppl realize or that the catholic majority is willing to let on, when we were colonized a large percent of the population was indeed forced to convert to catholicism so that’s my background, & i don’t know everything about taoism or the what the tai chi symbol represents but the way Bryke westernize the concept of Yin and Yang is honestly… kinda bewildering. They get so many details about yin & yang wrong?? & Yes, it’s possible they could’ve been trying to create their own lore that differentiates itself from the traditional depictions of Yin & Yang, but in the end i think it doesn’t matter b/c the lore they invent is a very obviously western interpretation of the concept of “balance”.

The most important and honestly worst change they make is that concepts of “light” and “dark” are completely oversimplified and flattened to represent basically “good” and “evil” (which, the light and dark side are a bit more complex than representing just “peace/order vs. Chaos” like the show might imply but we don’t even have time for that, but is funny how they get the genders wrong. Like. Traditionally, light is usually coded masculine and dark is usually coded feminine, but never mind that, that’s just a tangent). This really simplifies the nuance of the s2 conflict and makes it a lot less interesting, not to mention just—misrepresents a very real religious philosophy?

And for the record, a piece of media going out of its way to do "the show, don’t tell" thing of stating in the text that “oh, light and dark are not the same thing as good vs. evil” without actually displaying that difference through the writing is just lip service, and its poor writing. A lot of pieces of media do this, but i think s2 of LoK is particularly egregious. The point of this philosophy of balance is that you aren’t supposed to moralize about which side is “good” or “bad”, or even really which one is “better” or “worse”. Even if the show states the concepts are not interchangeable, if the media in question continually frames one side (and almost always its “chaos/darkness”) as the “evil” side, then the supposed distinction between “light vs. dark” and “good vs. evil” is made moot. And besides the occasional offhand remark that implies more nuance without actually delivering, Vaatu is basically stock evil incarnate.

This depiction of conflict as “defeating a singular representation of total evil” isn’t solely christian, but it is definitely present in christian beliefs. And I think those kinds of stories can be done well, but in this case, in a world filled entirely of asian, Pacific Islander & inuit poc, to me it feels like a form of subtle whitewashing? B/c you’re taking characters that probably wouldn’t have christian beliefs, and imposing a christian worldview onto them. Not to mention removes what could have been an interesting conflict of any nuance and intrigue… and honestly, sucks, because I do think s2 has the bones of an interesting idea, mostly b/c there are potential themes that could’ve been explored—I know this b/c they were already explored in a movie that exists, and it’s name is Princess Mononoke! It has a lot of the same elements—tension between spirits and humanity, destruction of nature in the face of rapid industrialization, moral ambiguity where there are no easy or fast answers and both sides have sympathetic and understandable points of view. (Unsurprising b/c Miyazaki is Japanese & Japanese culture has a lot of influence from Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, etc)

Bryke’s western & christian worldview also totally seeps into the characterization of Unalaq, the antagonist of the season which is a real problem. I’m in the middle of rewatching s2 right now and what struck me is that….. Unalaq comes across kinda ecofash AND fundamentalist which is 1) seems like an odd combination but maybe it really isn’t? 2) i think is a really tacky choice considering that the water tribes take the majority of its inspiration from inuit and polynesian indigenous cultures.

I honestly forgot abt this but Unalaq gives this whole lame speech abt how the SWT & humans as a whole suck b/c of their lack of spiritual connection & it was really eerie to me b/c "humans are morally bankrupt and they must be wiped out/punished for their destruction of the environment" is total ecofash logic bc it blames all of humanity for damage caused by those in power—be they capitalists or whoever. It’s a worldview that blames the poor and powerless for something they have no say in, and has real eugenics undertones bc with every implication of culling, there has to be someone who appoints themself the job of culling—of who is and isn’t worthy of death.

This belief also struck me as......... kinda christian in it's logic as well which is WEIRD b/c once again........ their cultural inspirations are DEFINITELY not christian...... The whole "man is inherently evil and must spend their whole lifetime repenting/must face punishment for it’s wickedness" thing and the way that christianity treats humanity as born with original sin or inherently corrupt—as well as above or separate from nature are really stronger undertones in Unalaqs worldview....... which isn't really an indigenous way or thinking.

I'm generalizing of course but from what I have seen from the indigenous people who speak on this is that (feel free to point out or correct me if i’m mostly generalizing abt Native Americans and not other indigenous cultures & there are some differences here) is that while native tribes are not monolithic and do vary wildly, there are a lot of common threads and that reverence and respect toward nature and your surroundings is an important tenant of indigenous beliefs. (I specifically remember the hosts on All My Relations saying essentially that we humans are a part of nature, we are not separate from it, and humans are not superior to animals—I’m paraphrasing but that is the gist of it)

So, yeah, I think it’s just really distasteful to write an indigenous character who is characterized in a way that’s way more in line with a christian fundamentalist & wants to bring about a ragnarok style apocalypse end of the world when that isn’t really a tenant of our beliefs? (btw, the way the end of the world is framed is also kinda fucked up? If i were being charitable, I could say that maybe s2’s storyline is a corruption of the hindu depiction of the end of the world, but even that sounds mildly insulting for reasons I won’t get into b/c i am Not The Expert On Hinduism. I will say that once again, the framing of the concept is all wrong, the show views the idea of apocalypse through a very western lense)

To wrap this up, I think the depiction of Unalaq could *maybe* work b/c he is the antagonist, so someone who strays from the NWT cultural tradition in a way that makes his view of morality more black and white wouldn’t be a *horrible* idea for the bad guy of the season. Especially because the introduction of capitalism to the A:TLA universe could probably cause a substantial shifts to… idk, everything i guess, b/c capitalism is so corrosive. Like. Sometimes people are just traitors. I do think it would be interesting to portray the way capitalism manifests in a society without white christians. Like… I do think there are a lot of ways secular christianity and capitalism are interlinked. But Unalaq is not portrayed as an outsider, he’s portrayed as hyper-traditionalist in a way that’s vilified? I guess rightly so, he does suck, but it’s just hard to conceptualize how a person like Unalaq comes to exist in the first place. In the end, I don’t really think it makes sense, in a world without white people, I don’t really know where this introduction of black and white christian morality would even come from in the avatar world?

TL;DR, Bryke applying western christian morality & world views to non-white characters in a world where white people have NEVER existed to affect our beliefs is a subtle form of white-washing. It imposes simplified “good vs. evil” world-views & cultural beliefs onto its characters. Any attempt to represent or even just integrate our actual beliefs into the A:tla lore are twisted and misrepresented is a way that is disrespectful and saps out any nuance or intrigue from the story, and alienates the people its supposed to represent from recognizing themselves within the final product. And Finally, on a more superficial story level, these writing choices clashe with the already existing world of ATLA--and is honestly just poor world-building.

#shut up Janelle #lok #Atla #lok crit #legend of korra

107 notes · View notes

meowloudly15 · 3 years

Text

The thing about Undertale that intrigues me the most is that every character is both likeable and dislikeable. None of the characters are entirely bad, but none of them are entirely good, either.

I can hear you shouting, "But Toriel! What about Toriel? Goat Mom did nothing wrong!" Well... Toriel is, imho, the most unambiguously good character in all of Undertale, with the possible exception of the Human Child. She's unceasingly kind and generous, it's almost impossible for her to kill you in her boss fight, and she desires nothing more than your safety. Going off that last point, though, I find Toriel is a lot like Marlin from Finding Nemo. She's overprotective to a comical extreme. Of course, there's a good reason for this behavior. When I first played the game, though, I found her mollycoddling excessive, to the point where I was almost grateful to leave her behind and escape through the basement! Not that I don't love her, because I do, she's so sweet and funny, and I felt horrible when I accidentally killed her; but Toriel has flaws, and she's not just a one-note maternal figure. And that makes her no less loveable. (Side note: Toby Fox originally planned to have you kill Toriel at the end of the Ruins. He changed his mind and created the SPARE system instead. But I wonder if Toriel was intentionally made smothering to make it easier to off her?)

I'm not gonna discuss Flowey because we all know why he sucks, and I can't say anything that hasn't already been said about his good side.

Papyrus, Papyrus, Papyrus... I love this stupid skeleton himbim. (Why is he a himbim, do you ask? Well, he fits the himbo criteria, but literal skeleton-bodied individuals cannot be considered traditionally handsome.) If he wasn't "pure of heart, dumb of ***", he would be utterly obnoxious. Case in point: his egoism. Papyrus thinks he's the greatest. However, what makes him so lovable is that he thinks everyone else is also the greatest (the "pure of heart" aspect), and that he's really not that great (the "dumb of ***" aspect). Papyrus can be grating and loud and all that, and yet everybody loves him. I have yet to hear tell of anyone who dislikes Papyrus. (Is it because he's probably neurodivergent?) It's interesting how we as a fandom don't really discuss the downsides of Toriel and Papyrus. (Again, not that I don't love them! I do!)

Ah, sans. Finally some good comic relief character. He's a very nicely three-dimensional character. I'm no expert on him, but I will say that his depression doesn't completely excuse him from inaction. There's enough talk about sans to fill a novel or two so I'd suggest consulting another source for more info.

Undyne. Probably the first character (aside from Flowey) whom you truly view as a bad guy. And she has her bad side for sure. She's one of only two Normal Route bosses who will not hesitate to kill you. (Asgore never kills you unless your health is at 1 point.) I understand why she's justifying killing you, a small, possibly harmless child, because she thinks it's the only way to free her people and doesn't have any reason to believe otherwise. But, still. I will say that she's the most human of all the monsters (again, besides Flowey) in that she exhibits the most traits of one: DETERMINATION and cruelty.

Okay full disclaimer I believe that Alphys did nothing wrong and I love her and would die for her BUT. But. My friend has argued for why she kind of sucks, and (though it pains me) I don't disagree. Alphys is basically anxiety given bodily form, and she embodies all the negative parts of anxiety, too. Like the Avoidance Spiral. She screws up, she's afraid of what'll happen if people find out, she hides it, people start getting concerned, she's even more afraid, she avoids it, the problem gets worse, she continues to push it away until the problem has grown too big for her to handle but she refuses to let anyone else help her because having other people know she failed is the last thing she wants. The Avoidance Spiral sucks. And with a problem this major, too; no wonder she contemplates and possibly commits suicide. (Interesting side note: the two Normal route bosses who show you the least mercy are the two who, when killed, lead to Alphys's death.) Also, she manipulates the Human Child without a second thought and never apologizes for it. That's, uh, not great. She needs therapy badly. (Another side note: Alphys is the best-handled instance of mentally ill quasi-villainy in video games I can think of. The only others I can think of are Nathan Prescott and Josh Washington so the bar is not high but I digress. Fun Fact: all those games were released in 2015!)

Mettaton has the most unambiguously rotten personality of the bunch (yet again, aside from Flowey). He's breathtakingly self-absorbed, neglected his own cousin, and is downright abusive to his employees. What redeeming traits does he have? Well, uh... he's a loyal friend to Alphys? Ok yeah that's all I can think of. He's extremely entertaining, though, which is probably why more people don't hate him.

Yes, I know, Asgore is a war criminal, but he's also very soft. And I think that sums him up pretty thoroughly. (Asgore: I have done many things wrong in my life, often. Me: I know this, and I love you.)

TL;DR none of the Undertale characters are perfect, and it's not entirely hard to find a reason to want one or the other of them dead. Does that go against the message of the game? Very much so. Does it make the characters any less lovable? Not at all. Should we give more thought to them all being so lovable despite their flaws? Ab-so-lutely.

#undertale #ut #toriel #flowey #papyrus #sans #undyne #alphys #mettaton #asgore #long post #meow rambles incessantly again #neutral route spoilers #uhhhhh ask to tag

33 notes · View notes

sleepless-in-starbucks · 3 years

Note

Hi could you talk more about why youd recommend not watching ww84?

Sure!

warnings for under the cut: spoilers for WW84 and a bit of the first wonder woman; i only saw WW84 once a few days ago + it’s been a hot sec since i saw the original so if i get a few details wrong i apologize

tl;dr with no spoilers: WW84 is a poorly executed movie that insults its viewer with its messy and self-proud plot, bad character/relationship portrayals, and offers a personal slap in the face to a majority of its audience in their various discriminations, generalizations, and plot points.

the first point is the racism, made well by the post i reblogged here, (edit: found a second post that goes more in depth here) so i’d just suggest looking at that for that matter

next is just How they portray wonder woman in this one

i really appreciated the way the first movie portrayed diana because they did very well in keeping true to her Amazonian raising and life while still clearly showing she was a woman

when i say this i mean that a lot of media has a tendency to either make women who are very fem and keep to traditional gender roles or women who more or less shun femininity and attempt to largely fulfill only male gender roles

diana in the original is a warrior, strong and fierce, but still a woman, not trying to shun that or anything. she wears styles that suit her while still being woman’s styles (she doesn’t force her way into a suit), she talks of and addresses her womanhood proudly and without issue, etc

i want to note here i have no issue with female characters who act extremely masc and reject femininity- i love them tbh- but it’s important to remember that it’s not inherently against womanhood or anything to be a strong fighter who doesn’t stick to every stereotypical social gender norm

and the first wonder woman movie shows this very well

WW84... oh boy

first of all, wonder woman’s changing outfits every other scene. even between scenes where it makes no sense! i’m not saying she can only wear one set of clothes but Geez this was too much

not to mention an entire scene dedicated to her helping steve pick a fashion look? i understand this was to highlight the ‘80-ness of the movie, and it would’ve been fine if it seemed diana was helping him pick a period appropriate look, but it was clear she was trying to help him pick a ‘fashionable’ look which. wonder woman? from the island without a sense of popular outfits or fashion? what?

and the amount of focus on her wearing high heels.... ugh

i’m not saying you can’t have a badass woman who also likes social gender norm fem things but it felt clear that wasn’t what they were going for

wonder woman in the first movie liked practical fashion and not only were many of her outfits not that, her high heels? one hundred percent not practical

it didn’t fit her character and felt horribly out of place, clearly just the producers / directors / whoever going ‘oh, wonder woman is a woman how can we show this? fashion! high heels!’ and i hated it

(warning: imma be jumping from thought to thought as they bump into each so uh... enjoy the train-of-thought style of flaw informing)

and starting at the beginning like.... wow that scene had no purpose

wonder woman cheats in a competition and is punished for this by losing it in the end. except. this is stupid for two reasons

as the audience is shown she didn’t cheat on purpose. she made a mistake, lost her horse, and made a strategy to get back into the race despite this. honestly? i thought the story was going to be a lesson in ingenuity in the worst looking situations. but it wasn’t, which is bad storytelling, because the lesson is then based on a point that isn’t even that true

it is literally Never important again later. unless you count what was going on with the wishstone as ‘cheating to victory’ which i dont. that’s not even what the villain did. he wanted to take over the world. there’s no victory there you get without cheating. wtf. why did that message even happen

going into the actual story we meet the cheetah pretty quick, when she’s still whatever-her-civilian-name-is

and the cheetah... she’s such a bad villain

she doesn’t have the same backstory as she does in the comics

in this one, she uses the wishstone- which is a whole ‘nother thing in and of itself- to wish to be like diana, because ig being smart as hell but social awkward as hell too is so bad you need to desperately wish to be someone else? i hate that trope, but onwards-

she gets that, but in exchange for not only diana’s likable personality she also gets her wonder woman powers (and she loses her glasses, because pretty and cool means no glasses, right? /s), she loses her kindness bc of the rules of the wishstone- in exchange for your wish, it takes smth u care about a lot from you; for her, it was her kindness

this makes her villain! just because she lost her kindness. yep. honestly not a good look regarding all those people out there who are low/no empathy and can still be wonderful nice people but i digress

at one point she complains about why she needs to keep her power rather than go back to being just Her and i fucking wanted to scream

she has like. half a dozen degrees, clearly a couple of friends even if she’s awkward, and she’s got a life that was perfectly okay before she made the wish. as someone who is also socially awkward as hell, it infuriated me to here her acting like it was the fucking end of the world she couldn’t be more extroverted or whatever. there are ways to work on that!!! the movie trying to convince the audience she had a legit reason to not un-wish her wish (for the good of the entire world) was stupid and insulting

also her transformation between ‘looks human, wearing cheetah-pattern clothing‘ to ‘humanoid with cheetah fur/skin/appearance’ literally just. happened. for no reason. that was stupid

y’know what else is stupid? the wishstone. it was clearly just a plot device, and a poorly executed one at that. it isn’t even consistent in how it works

and they did a whole side thing with like. how it had the language of the gods written on part of it and it appeared in random locations across history around the time of great tragedies and,,, that was it???

they never explored the divine connection??? who planted it or why??? how it location traveled or anything????

like i said. poor plot device

i move on now to steve

oh boy steve

he’s brought back to life by diana’s wish on the wishstone, but... it causes him to come back in someone else’s body, quantum leap style. this is. weird. and is never ever addressed by him or wonder woman except once in a throw away comment. like. diana and steve kiss and are implied to have sex while steve is in someone else’s body and neither of them seem to care. this is not good!!

and then his relationship with diana? HORRIBLE

in the first movie they were barely starting to fall in love, only barely a couple even if that. more importantly they were friends, and that night he died diana didn’t lose a potential lover so much as she lost her first non-Amazonian friend

but WW84 portrays their relationship as if they were not only already a couple, but one close enough that even after forty years since steve’s death diana is still completely and hopelessly in love with him to the point that she’s literally hanging off his arm as soon as he’s back and making love that very night

it plays again once more into the misrepresentation of wonder woman’s character (how stereotypically hollywood female to fall over herself at the sight of her love interest) and it wrecks their relationship, which had been a lovely friends-who-could-be-more

what they should’ve done was focus on that friendship, build it back up after the long gap for wonder woman, and then started to rebuild that possible romance (and tear it down at the perfect moment... right when steve had to go again... ah that would’ve been lovely)

but they wanted to go in full-haul on the romance and it just felt. wrong and weak to me. diana’s refusal to consider giving up her wish (to get her powers back and save the world) is bc she doesn’t want to let steve go again, which makes more sense in the context of a first and true friend rather than a hastily slapped together love interest

steve’s character was generally good tbh but the way he played into the story? bad

moving on... the main villain of the movie? sucks. he’s just. fucking awful

despite a motivation being given that he wants to have money, he launches into wanting to take over the world for no real reason. he takes advantage of people for this and almost destroys the world he wants to rule for it. the main reason he stops this is for his son, who up until now he largely ignored and didn’t seem to care that much for outside of basic obligations. and the movie dares try to make him sympathetic by throwing in the fact he grew up poor and was bullied and not liked which i HATE

lots of people are/have been poor. lots of people are/have been bullied (myself included). that does NOT justify them DESTROYING THE WORLD TRYING TO TAKE IT OVER. can it be used to show the audience why he does what he does? yes. but to use it and clearly try to make it a reason to hand-wave-away what he did? NO. FUCK NO

also fucking. y’know how wonder woman took down this villain? she talked to him and the world. she gave a stirring speech while she laid slumped against a wall, not injured, just too weak to beat a bit of wind. she talked and she looped her lasso around his leg so she could talk to the world to to convince them to give up their wishes

once again... the mischaracterization

in the first movie, wonder woman gives a stirring speech while fighting Areas. it’s done in her battle, beating the god of war up while reminding him of what she stood for, who she was, why she would keep fighting for a broken world

it was BEAUTIFUL. it was MEANINGFUL. it was BADASS but SINCERE

this was weak. and it clearly wanted to be more than it was

the whole movie wants to be more than it is- it wants to have an important meaningful message like the first movie, about wishes for the self and war and the world and whatever. and it wants it so badly it does it horribly

the message is ham-handed yet messy and unclear and not right. it doesn’t make sense, and it feels poorly plotted. the movie thinks it’s more than it is and that makes it very hard to watch

and to finish my rant off... WW84 lied to its audience

did you see any ads for WW84? i did. they were bright, vibrant, funky music, stunning moments, action and intrigue. i was thrilled for a movie like it

the actual movie isn’t that

it’s not nearly as action filled, it’s not as ‘80s-focused as it leads you to believe, some of the most prominently featured moments barely matter

the lightning swing? pointless, as at that point in the movie wonder woman’s learned how to fly and does it for no reason but the trailers

and that cool suit? introduced in a random myth for no reason halfway through the movie, brought in at random with no explanation, only there for show and the trailers

WW84 is not the movie is lead people to believe it was, and the movie it is is poorly executed and insulting to a variety of peopler/minorities

if you’re gonna watch it, pirate it. i can give you a link. just don’t give dc your money or your legit views for it

#that got long #but what can i say? im passionate about my bad movies #and ww84?#that was a bad movie #if anyone wants clarification on smth let me know #wonder woman 1984 #ww84 #ww84 spoilers #the cryptid speaks #lost in the fray

68 notes · View notes

lesbian-roguefort · 3 years

Text

ok i kinda wanna elaborate on my emotions surrounding sniscourse and the aftermath of both of em for a minute since it is the one year of the first one

so. the first sniscourse was started as something that I had wanted to talk about for MONTHS leading up to the cereal meme and my main post being created. it was about an issue that I had been ACTIVELY observing with my own two eyes for weeks on end. it wasn’t a problem created out of nothing or out of boredom or whatever, which is what I feel a lot of people thought.

when I made my first post, I had people telling me TO MY FACE that the things I’d been seeing and watching with my own two eyes weren’t real. that I was making things up and that everything was just in my imagination. that I was just mad that “my art isn’t getting any likes sad face :{{{{{{{{{”. i was being fucking gaslit, basically. and that’s not to say that I was the only one either; pretty much everyone who posted about the issue was told the same thing.

then I’d see all of these different opinions all across my dash. my mutuals and following split in two. it’s hard to even estimate how many people I had to unfollow that were spreading straight-up lies and hatred vaguely directed at me and the others who spoke out. the stress was almost unbearable. it was fucking awful.

sniscourse one came to a slow stop eventually. the ahit fandom was... surprisingly decent in its wake. like they learned their lesson for maybe a month before turning their backs on everything they had supposedly “learned” about treating artists with respect from snis1 and going back to overrunning everything. it sucked, but at that point I was very much ready to give up on the fandom and to leave it to rot and burn.

then, in nov 2020, snis2 happened! which is what solidified my hatred towards all sn*tcher fans.

snis2 originated from a post about how a majority of ahit fans observed the borderline abusive dynamic between sn*tcher and hat kid and decided to make them “““found family.”““ literally not even a hot take because of the canon content that supports this.

yet SOMEHOW, SOME CRAZY, INSANE FUCKING WAY, people STILL tried defending this. even when presented with ALL the canon evidence, we were met with “but he’s my comfort character 🥺🥺” and “but aus >:{{” and “but I don’t fucking care.” think about that for a second. I and other survivors of abuse spoke up and said “this dynamic is abusive” and were met with BACKLASH. put yourself in my shoes for a second. you’re an abuse survivor, and you’re being told, TO YOUR FACE, that a character whose traits are LITERALLY abusive that it isn’t abuse.

since then, things have been literally fucking awful. snis2 in particular is what solidified sn*tcher as a trigger for me. I literally could not bear to see them portrayed in a positive light without wanting to smash my skull in, and I STILL can’t. I still can’t listen to their voice. I still can’t look at art of them being portrayed in any positive way.

I still think about snis1 and especially snis2. every fucking day, without exception, it crosses my mind. especially in times where I’m reminded of it. it hurts so much and sometimes I’ll get so furious I’ll start to shake. it’s fucking hell.

and then I’ll think to the people on the other end of sniscourse, who probably don’t even think of it for a second of their days. who have no fucking clue what a horrible impact they’ve had on me and others. who don’t have an IDEA in their MINDS how I’ll lie awake at night wanting to tear my eyes out over things that I’ve been told I’m making up and abuse being completely excused.

do you know how fucking painful that is to realize how horribly you’ve been hurt by something that never even crosses the mind of the person who hurt you?

uhhhh tl;dr happy one year anniversary snis1 you got me fucked up 🎉

#rift murmurs #this is ok to rb if u want to ig #tw intrusive thoughts #tw self harm mention #long post

7 notes · View notes

deiacontraria · 3 years

Text

Haven’t finished watching the new Winx series, but I just couldn’t settle down with two thoughts.

Who even is the intended audience for this? People I know who grew up watching Winx, myself included, are deeply confused. It’s not horrible, but it’s... weird if you look at it from an old-Winx mindset. The actors are good, the effects are alright at times, but the story... just what? What is this? What even is this world?

Also unsure as to why they gave Bloom those issues with her mom. And some of the lines just come off as weird for the characters, like Bloom storming off after talking to Aisha despite how Bloom’s character is, like, nice? Actually, almost everyone is kind of meaner? What happened to the colorfulness? I know it’s a “darker and edgier“ adaptation, but does that mean no one can just be nice anymore?

I can’t really put it well into words, but it’s that uncanny valley between an adaptation and an outright AU that’s just confusing.

On the flip side, my family who only vaguely remember what Winx was are using their limited knowledge of character names to (kinda) know what’s going on, so maybe that’s the intended audience? People who, like... know what Winx is, enough to be interested in watching the live action, but don’t actively care enough for the original to mind how the new series goes? Because I feel like people with zero Winx knowledge would also be deeply confused.

I’d like to reiterate, the actors do a decent job, this series is not without merit, even if the plot is weird as heck.

I’m late to this train-wreck, but back to what everyone is complaining about: yeah, apparently Flora does exist somewhere in this universe? But it still sucks that she didn’t show up. Growing up Hispanic with family and friends all having a wide array of appearances, Winx really felt like one of the few series that had prominent characters that (kinda) reminded me of us. Like it was just as normal as in real life, unlike some other cartoons that just had pale people as some sort of “default” with few exceptions.

Is the series decent? Eh, I guess? Maybe I’m just too hung up on Flora’s role being replaced by her, um, “cousin”. How is it that with all the social projects and awareness about diversity, somehow for every step forward in representation there’s like 3 back? This isn’t even about the cast being white, it’s about them taking characters that weren’t white and just yeeting them out of view.

TL;DR: Fate Winx is tolerable, I guess, but especially not if you expect it to be anything like the original x_x It’s something else entirely. Maybe it’s just not for me, I don’t like condemning shows as bad just because I didn’t like them, but it was... something else.

#fate the winx saga #fate: the winx saga

13 notes · View notes