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stevelieber · 11 months

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Thoughts on giving critiques to comics artists.

Seeing lots of discussion from students about sour experiences with an unhelpful art teacher, so here's a long, long post about giving critiques.

NB: I have no formal training as a teacher, but I was a student, and I've spent decades giving artists feedback on their work.

When someone brings me a portfolio, I like to establish my limitations & clarify my perspective. My work is firmly rooted in traditional US comics storytelling (i.e., not manga or art-comics.) I can give feedback on other approaches but they should know where I’m coming from.

“We've only got a little time for this, so I'm going to spend that time focusing on things to correct. That doesn't mean you're doing everything wrong, or that there’s nothing good here, but it’ll be more helpful if I identify some problems and show you how to fix them.”

Why? Because for many young artists their entire sense of self worth is wrapped up in being good at what they do. (It was for me!) In school they were probably the best artist in their peer group. But now if they're hoping to turn pro, they’re at the bottom.

Sometimes you know what’s up when you see page 1, but try to keep an open mind. Some build their portfolios by sticking new pages at the back & don’t weed out the old stuff up front, so the work gets better as you go. When it’s like that I ask: “Show me your best 8 pages.”

I ask questions: "What's the goal? Do you want to be hired to work on someone else's project, or to get the story you're showing me here published?"

If 1, I steer towards a portfolio that'll showcase hirable skills. If 2, I look for what tweaks will make that particular story more effective.

"Do you have teachers giving you regular feedback? What are they telling you?" Sometimes a student is getting bad advice. In cases like that, I'll do my best to be extra clear WHY I'm giving them advice that's 180 degrees from what they've been hearing.

“What artists are you looking at? Is there someone you admire or try to emulate?” This often helps me understand choices they're making, and I can sometimes incorporate things those artists do into my suggestions.

I ask myself questions about what I’m seeing. First: Is there a narrative? If not, I make it 100% clear I'm not speaking as any sort of expert. I'm good at critiquing storytelling, but don't have anywhere near as much to offer illustrators or designers.

Can I follow the story? Or am I confused about what's going on? Are the characters and settings drawn consistently? If not, is the artist at least making use of tags (distinctive clothing, hair etc.) to keep the characters recognizable?

Does the artist demonstrate a good command of basic academic drawing? If not, Do I think they need it? Do I focus on "how to draw" or on "what to do when you can't draw?" Is the artist putting the viewer’s eye where it needs to be to tell the story effectively?

(At this point I’m usually doing little doodles to go with my instructions. I scribble out ugly little 5 second diagrams that I hope will clarify what I’m talking about. Or they might make me seem demented. Hard to say!)

Is the artist making choices that are creating more work than necessary? Is there a particular weakness? I once spoke to an artist with a portfolio full of great work when he was drawing animals and monsters, but his humans were amateurish in comparison. I spent that critique talking about drawing people.

A crit can be a grab bag. In addition to big-picture advice, I'll point out tangencies, violations of the 180-degree rule, wonky anatomy, weird perspective, places where the artist neglected to do important research, odd choices in how they spotted black, whatever catches my eye.

I also try to make a point of defining the terms, so that jargon like “tangency,” “180-degree rule,” and “spotting black” don't go over their heads. Find simple, concrete ways to talk about these things, & clarify why it's a problem when they aren't done correctly. Draw diagrams!

Recognize that even a perfectly phrased explanation might not sink in. Some lessons can only be learned when a student is ready, and it might take a year or two of work before they can understand what you were saying. It's good to plant seeds.

Are there other artists who are particularly good at solving the problems the student is trying to solve? I steer them towards that artist's work. And I always recommend life drawing & the use of reference to give work variety and authority.

Despite what I said earlier about focusing on what's wrong, I try at the end to find something encouraging to say. And if I’ve really piled on the criticism, I emphasize that I only spent the time and energy to do so because I take their efforts seriously.

If I've done my job right, they'll leave my table with tools to make their work better. And maybe in a few years they'll be looking at some younger artist's work, surprised to discover just how much you can learn when you're asked to teach.

#comics #protips #my work #comic book art #essays #teaching

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lurkingshan · 7 months

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On Boston and Brian Kinney

I’ve seen a lot of folks in the Only Friends tag recently making connections between the show and Queer as Folk, both US and UK versions, which makes sense because QaF is a clear reference for the show, both visually and thematically, and we know Jojo likes to reference western media in his work. One parallel folks are drawing is not tracking for me, however, so I am jumping in the wayback machine and putting on my old QaF stan hat to talk to y’all about Brian Kinney, and why Boston is actually nothing like him. Tagging @bengiyo and @neuroticbookworm who talked this through with me and also @slayerkitty because I saw you were contemplating this connection between the two characters.

So, first, why are people making this comparison? It really boils down to one thing: Brian and Boston are both sluts. That’s… pretty much it. They both like sex and prefer to have it with many different partners, and neither has much use for monogamy. But this is pretty much where their similarities end.

So let’s remind ourselves who Brian Kinney is: a kind of fantasy of a hot, rich, self-actualized gay man with unmatched sexual prowess and a surface level flippancy masking a heart of gold. Brian is an adult man with a thriving career and money that he earned for himself after leaving his abusive and homophobic family (who would eventually explicitly reject him because of his sexuality). As a result, he is defiant in his commitment to live his life as loudly and queerly as possible—which includes a dedication to fucking and sucking, public sex, and a rejection of heteronormative constructs like monogamy.

Brian has a very clear moral code he lives by, even if it’s not one most can relate to. He decides to have a son with his (lesbian) best friend because part of him wants to believe in a better future and build a family of his own. He is extremely loyal to his found family even as he’s a jerk to their face most of the time, and he is always working behind the scenes to protect them even as he often hurts their feelings with his glib remarks and shitty behavior. Despite his disdain for monogamy, he never actually tries to destroy any of his friends’ happy relationships (in fact, he tries to sacrifice his own friendship with Michael to ensure he stays with his boyfriend).

Brian has a sense of responsibility to others and often takes on the blame for things he didn’t even do, which is why he takes baby gay Justin to Debbie and ensures he is cared for even as he tries to dissuade Justin from getting attached to him, and why he cares for Justin in the aftermath of his bashing. He cares deeply about his community, to the point where he pours his money into protecting the local gay scene, literally bankrupts himself to stop an anti-gay politician from winning an election, and gives up a dream job to stay put in Pittsburgh and help rebuild the community after a hate crime.

Brian is unflinchingly honest and he avoids making promises because once he does, he knows he will absolutely keep them—he takes his commitments seriously and he always does what he says he will. When he falls in love, he does not abandon his core values but he is willing to make some compromises. And he hides his better self and often wallows in self-destructive behavior because he feels deeply unworthy of love, which goes back to the intergenerational trauma he experienced as a child in an abusive home and the parental rejection he felt due to his sexuality.

Boston, by contrast, is a character who feels more rooted in reality. He’s a pampered rich kid who is indulged in his hobbies and who already has a life plan laid out for him and paid for by his daddy. He likes to sleep around mostly because it’s fun, and because he knows his life here is temporary so he doesn’t see any point in getting attached to people. In stark contrast to Brian’s out and proud and fuck you if you have a problem with it brand of politics, he is still trying to hide who he is in service of his father’s political career, even if he’s pretty sloppy about it (see him fucking Top in a car with giant windows parked in the driveway at a house party).

Boston’s moral code is fungible and ever-changing to fit his circumstances—boy is a hypocrite (see his opinions about people filming and photographing him even as he does the same to others constantly). He has no loyalty and no qualms about hurting and betraying his friends, and actively tries to destroy their relationships for sport or as a means to get what he wants. He does not feel responsible for anyone and often lies and ducks accountability for the things he does. He does not care about his community at all, and in fact already has a NYC escape hatch in his back pocket for when he inevitably burns his bridges. He is not as honest as Brian and sends a lot of mixed messages to keep people guessing and on the hook.

Rather than hurting people by being brutally honest as Brian does, Boston plays psychological games and manipulates his friends and lovers, and he seems to take twisted pleasure in blowing up their happiness. We haven’t seen him make a promise or fall in love, and while there are some signs that he may have some sort of inferiority complex at play (with Mew in particular), his motives are not tied to any past trauma. Boston is just a messy bitch who loves chaos and doesn’t really care who gets hurt as long as he gets what he wants and stays entertained. Where Brian is literally a superhero to his loved ones, Boston is just a very flawed human being.

But Shan, I hear you saying, I thought you liked Boston! I do, besties, I do. He’s a fantastic character and a very real kind of person many of us encounter in our 20s. Because that’s the thing: Boston is so young. He hasn’t developed any sense of responsibility to others or any understanding of the importance of queer community, and he has never had to take care of himself, which is perhaps the biggest difference between him and Brian. Brian has lived independently for more than a decade when we meet him in QaF, whereas Boston is a spoiled rich kid who has barely lived. Brian is a fully realized adult and his more nuanced characterization is a reflection of that; Boston is actually a pretty basic chaotic drama queen who will grow up eventually.

TL;DR: Aside from being promiscuous, Boston has very little in common with Brian Kinney. He is more a reflection of a very real kind of person you will meet on the scene in queer communities than an homage to a larger than life fictional QaF character. And while OF is absolutely referencing some of the themes and values and stylistic flourishes of QaF, it is not making direct parallels to its characters.

#did i write this mostly as an excuse to get brian kinney on this blog?#who can say #only friends the series #queer as folk #thai bl #ofts #only friends #ephemerality squad #shan shouts into the void

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sepublic · 20 days

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The Owl House's Ending Anniversary...

So it's officially been one whole year since The Owl House ended.

One year ago, I wondered how I would move on. How I would keep going. But I also knew I would, no matter what, because time keeps going on. Things will eventually pass, they always do, that's how so many moments and days for me have gone. Even entire periods of my life.

So I'm not surprised how things have gone on since then; I still had plenty more things to say about TOH, and I still love it just as I have. I've gotten new hyperfixations, and even returned to old ones as some of you can see with recent posts, so it's only a matter of time before TOH circles back again.

And man does it feel so slow, only to feel so brief, it really feels like this anniversary has snuck up on and surprised me! And once again, we have some other, appropriate event lined up; A solar eclipse on this anniversary! Luckily there's no sigils nor coven heads gathered to make me worry. But dang, it was raining in Connecticut when Luz returned there, and it was the rebirth of Jesus when Luz was resurrected.

Makes me wonder if anyone of the Boiling Isles, justifiably, has had PTSD from solar eclipses, and dreaded any that showed up, despite knowing it couldn't happen again. People must've held their breaths the entire time during the first eclipse, panicked at even the slightest fatigue, and then it passed and they realized it really was impermanent and over. And that there was another step towards moving on, which I guess I can relate to now, though this is something I'm much less happy to see gone.

I think a lot about how TOH has influenced both me and my writing, how I approach characters and stories now. I've found myself gravitating more and more towards personal, character-driven stories and situations now. I still have a bit of a taste for grander-scale stuff, but TOH was special for me in that it feels like the first time I really got and understood a show and its characters from the ground-up as I experienced it all in real time. The first time I truly grasped themes and character arcs and could make reasoned predictions based on those, some of which came true! It really feels like THE big start of my media literacy in a way?

It's been fun looking back at TOH as a 'whole' work more or less to reevaluate, and learning other things behind-the-scenes about the show. We've had a few more livestreams and stuff confirmed. Dana's done more drawings, including on her Patreon.

I haven't been writing as much TOH stuff lately, and tbf I've already said soooo much. I might have other, new things to say later down the line, and I do have a few thoughts I've written in notes that maybe could be fully-fledged posts in their own right. I've found comparisons to protagonists of other media, like Miles Morales, or Arin from Ninjago.

The Owl House still is and will probably always be something truly special to me; It feels like my first real fandom experience. My first time understanding and learning a show, appreciating it as it develops and even as I speculate. It broadened my tastes and horizons, my ability to participate with others in stuff.

I miss it; I miss new episodes, new developments. I'm still agonized over things that could've been, things I would've loved to see more of. I'm apprehensive over whether we'll get that Raeda prequel because I don't wanna get my hopes up. Plus Dana needs a well-deserved break and is trying and experimenting with new, different things. And I get that.

It's bittersweet, it's scary, it's freeing, it's sad, it's happy. I've gone so far, this show and fandom has gone so far. And it'll keep going, it has to, time keeps marching on. Luz had to lose her father Manny, process that, but still keep going and must be surprised looking back how much she's adjusted since then, how much she's still grown and gained and learned, while still holding him dear; The same applies for the Titan and the magic she once wielded. With grief and acceptance being a core theme in this show, I'm not surprised that it prepped up the viewers to do the same, and now we have.

And you know what? I'm gonna keep going on, like Luz Noceda, possibly my favorite protagonist of all time, one of the greats and a huge inspiration now for how I really want to write and focus on my own protagonists, too. I'm gonna keep doing this like it never ended. The rate and frequency might fluctuate, but every now and then I'll have things to say, and stuff to drop by and check, such as with the tag and the occasional trending post, others' reblogs, and so forth.

So again, thanks to Dana and the crew. Thanks to Luz Noceda, Eda Clawthorne, King Clawthorne, and the other many, many characters! Luz's story is one where it feels like the show really is about her at its core and wraps around to her, and I want to do a story one day that accomplishes the same feeling. And as I see how Dana has been inspired by past influences, I can't help but look forward to future generations and stories that will themselves have been inspired by The Owl House, I know I've been already, retroactively applying it to things that were already fairly compatible to begin with, and really needed the fresh breath of new inspiration.

I'm repeating a lot of the same things I've said last year. Will I say the same stuff another whole year from now? I'll see. But until next time... BBBBYYYYYYEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

#the owl house #ramblings #meta #nostalgia #psa #the owl house anniversary

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amuseoffyre · 1 month

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The more I write of my OFMD speculative S3 fic, the more I realise how much the writers were constrained for writing S2, by budget and executive interference about content and the limited time given by 8 episodes with reduced duration caps - I hadn't realised how much shorter some of the S2 episodes were than S1.

It makes me spit tacks thinking how much they could have done with the full 10 episodes, how so much of the stuff that felt rushed or pruned down or even fully cut was because too many CEOs spoiling the broth and forcing them to speedrun (and censor) so much.

We know they had:

a reunion scene with Jim and Olu - Samba mentioned it in WJW. Roach bringing them the soup and Olu crying on Jim's shoulder.

scenes setting up Zheng and Olu in the Republic from the press stills so it wasn't just hacked and slashed down to "you're the break in my day"

Wee John had more scenes with a through-line through multiple episodes about being tired of just being the Big Guy/muscle.

the entire planned polycule during episode 6 that was fully vetoed to the point that the cast and writers had to resort to slipping in coded references ("we've shared before" / "he's my anchor")

episode 6 originally meant to be a wedding episode where Ed actually pays for Lucius and Pete's wedding which again, vetoed, and we were only given a 2 minute ceremony tacked on the end - the fact that "Calypso's birthday" is literally "something you just made up as an excuse for a party" because they had to rewrite the episode

Ed and Stede actually spending episode 6 with them both not dealing well with "going slow" but it also being vetoed because Heaven forfend showing positive sexual desire between gay characters. But sure, lets show them being tortured instead. Max likes that.

Related to this is the 24 sexathon. Originally, it was meant to be Jim/Olu/Archie but it was shifted over to Lucius and Pete. Look at S1 when we had naked Olu and Jim snuggled post-coitus and Lucius drawing dick-pics and flirting shamelessly, 'we don't belong to each other'.

By comparison, S2 was pared back to a handful of kisses, one fade to black and a 60-second wedding. Nothing says sterilising the queer sex experience like having two people standing two feet apart, fully-dressed and not touching while saying "Oh yeah we had so much sex" 😤 THEY COULD HAVE BEEN CUDDLING IN BED. WE DESERVED CUDDLES. THIS GOES FOR EVERYONE.

But no. You may only have [this] much open queer affection in this show and then we shall destroy it because we never wanted to give you S2 in the first place.

#ofmd #ofmd meta #ofmd rage

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swordfright · 5 months

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shape language + dsmp cast !

Over the past year or so I’ve been slowly (very slowly lmfao) teaching myself to draw, and part of that process has been learning how shapes dictate meaning and emotion, so just for funsies I decided to do a full analysis of the shapes I usually use when drawing the cast of DSMP. Full analysis under the cut~

From left to right, top to bottom:

c!Dream — Typically, triangles communicate action, dynamism, or danger, all of which are pretty fitting for this guy, so the overall impression of his shape is usually triangular. His design also tends to use a lot of rectangles, which (because they contain elongated vertical lines) communicate a solidity that is less stable than, say, a square.

c!George — My design for him is very circular. Circles are made up of curves, so they tend to communicate softness and safety, as well as inaction or passivity. Since he can sometimes be quite a passive character in comparison to others, I usually go with a circle-based design for him.

c!Sapnap — I see Sapnap as a very complex character with a lot of different sides, at times extremely impulsive and at other times quite stable. Because of this, the shape I like to use for him is the rhombus, a type of parallelogram. Think of it like a square that’s leaning to one side: it still communicates the solidity and dependability of a square, but the diagonal lines that make up the shape mitigate that impression by suggesting motion/tension.

c!Punz — The base shape for Punz is usually either a short rectangle or a square, communicating reliability, while the face shape tapers into a point to suggest dynamism. He’s tricksy but dependable.

c!Techno — This guy’s always made up of circles and squares! Sturdy, reliable, approachable, strong, friendly. An all-around (haha get it) great guy.

c!Philza — I see Phil as one of those characters who, despite being very affable, has got a lot going on under the surface, so I didn’t want to stick to simple shapes for him. The shape I usually go with is an oval, because it carries the safety and amiability that roundness lends, as well as the slight instability implied by the long vertical lines in an oval.

c!Sam — This guy’s mostly squares! Strong, dependable, solid, secure…but also deeply inflexible.

c!Quackity — Nearly every shape in this design is some kind of triangle because that’s how I see Q: unpredictable, sharp, active. Triangles effortlessly convey the volatility associated with his character arc.

c!Wilbur — Okay, this is a tough one. Wilbur is a super manic character. This bad boy can fit so many shapes in him! His design usually features a pointed nose (triangular), a square jaw (strength/conviction), and either a rectangular or oval-shaped head. Wilbur can do (and be) a lot of things at once, so I really wanted his shapes to get that point across.

c!Tommy — Since he and Tubbo are both some of the younger server members, I like to include circles in their designs since roundness conveys youth. Tommy’s face shape usually tapers into a more pointed chin because he’s so active and volatile, he needs some pointy bits to show it!

c!Ranboo — The predominant shape here is a LONG rectangle. When it comes to rectangles, the wider the base, the more stable the shape ends up looking. But if the rectangle is much taller than its width, it conveys instability or even anxiety. I want Ranboo to look like he could topple over at any moment.

c!Tubbo — Just like Tommy, Tubbo’s primary shape is circular to communicate youth. But since Tubbo is a somewhat less active character than Tommy (a statement that’s true of most characters TBH) his circles are wider, sort of more squashed, to represent a state of semi-stability.

I could go on about this for way longer but I’m gonna cap this post here. There are a ton of characters I haven’t covered obviously, so LMK if there’s anyone else in particular whose shapes you’d like to see me break down.

#dream smp #dream smp art #dsmp #dsmp art #dsmp fanart #shape language #character design #my doodles #c!dream #c!tommy #c!techno #technoblade #quackity #tommyinnit #i'm not tagging every single character here but y'all get the picture #mcyt

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probablyhuntersmom · 11 months

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Hunter's Character Arc: A Hopeful Narrative

Wrote this for the 2-year anniversary of Separate Tides, especially since we now have the boi's full story arc too. This meta could come to life after I re-read the one I wrote about enmeshment (link).

You also get my geeking out about cinematography and visuals this round, instead of the mental health angle that I usually come in from. What I found is this: while some fans feel that the writing put him through too much, the frame composition of every Hunter scene - no matter how dark and horrifying the scene is - wants to paint him as an empowered survivor, and root for him, getting us viewers to be on his side in a way that is never really overt.

The way he is framed within the 'camera', evolves as his story arc evolves throughout the show: from being so high-ranking that only Belos appeared to be superior to him, to actively participating in society as an equal, to not only learn from others and be loved by others but also impart knowledge and love to the world.

Bringing his scenes to life wasn't just about Zeno Robinson's voice acting, along with how animators draw his expressions and poses; the camera also has to be placed in certain ways to add to the emotional weight of his scenes (even if in a subtle manner). These all add up in less obvious ways, to get specific emotional responses from us in the audience.

What I remember from the cinematography classes when I studied animation (honestly the only areas I didn't suck in were the preproduction and film analysis modules, everything else was bleh) are some general rules:

1. Shots with characters that are further away with a wider angle, are often to establish the setting (location and mood). Shots that are closer to the characters are more personal, of course.

2. Both low angle shots and high angle shots provide us with info about power/hierarchy, control and vulnerability in characters. Low angle shots may empower a hero, making them look more heroic if they're roughly facing the camera, but could make them appear vulnerable if their back is to the camera. High angle shots usually depower a character, making them feel small and feeble.

3. Shots with a height that is at eye level with the character(s), allow us to connect more directly with a character.

4. These rules can be creatively bent at times, in shows and movies. And you'd also have to factor in where and which characters are placed within the shots, e.g. their back is facing the camera, vs. us seeing them in full front-view. - An extra, not-so-important note: There's the rule of thirds, a rough guide for the screen's composition during important moments, to be more aesthetically pleasing to the human eye (which isn't an area of focus in this particular analysis).

There are so many screenshots I could've fit into this post! But there's the 30 pics limit and I've chosen the best ones I could think of.

Diving in...

It's stating the obvious, but the camera gets closer to Hunter as we get to know him more. When we start out, his presence feels distant, ominous and impersonal, like he's a smaller cog in a massive machine, just someone that Belos has sent out to do his bidding:

But the sense of his personhood, its importance, and his desire to fight for it, is felt more and more by us as time passes.

A really strong contrast would be this comparison:

Not quite knowing who this kid is (camera is far away and impersonal), vs. being terrified out of our wits as he appears helpless while possessed, because we're personally so invested in his wellbeing by that point. He has become a literal puppet, 100% physically coerced to do what Belos wants, in a more violent way than Belos previously coercing him to perform his Golden Guard duties using emotional manipulation.

After he was unmasked in Hunting Palismen, we connect with him and his vulnerabilities, since we can see through the armor (both literally and metaphorically) that he has to put up to survive as long as he did in the Emperor's Coven, prior to his decision to run away. We journey alongside him through the good and the bad.

Things become a bit less obvious when we get to low angles vs. high angle shots, plus the eye level shots.

Low Angle Shots:

Before being unmasked, he appears to be an intimidating antagonist who is not to be trifled with (though Luz manages to hold her own against him) and we feel that Luz is vulnerable to being possibly hurt by him:

but once he has met Luz and his mask comes off...

He is framed less and less as an antagonist, and lives out what he truly wants to live out, heroically braving many challenges and triggers to genuinely help others.

This even happens when things are really going south for him, when it appears that he has no way out:

To me, it feels like we are with him, at his level, as the storytelling aims to respect everything that he goes through. All thanks to the camera height, that can go as far as lowering itself all the way to the floor with him.

High Angle Shots:

An incredible difference would be between him watching Luz from the shadows below, even having power over Salty, telling the audience that he has control:

and fast forwarding to Luz offering him her hand during one of the pivotal moments in Hollow Mind:

I suppose this one shot is the one of very few that depower Hunter, and here, his old faith in Belos's reign is being dismantled. But whenever this is the case, it's from the vantage point of a kind-hearted character who will offer him help and never hurt him.

What stands out is, any high angle shots of Hunter do not ever show him being all alone with Belos. The closest to that would perhaps be these:

But I'd point out that in the Hollow Mind screenshot, Hunter and Luz in the present are watching from a distance: this moment is a step towards his empowerment because he reaches that awareness and clarity that Belos has been lying to him. In the For the Future shot, it's the impact of Belos's abuse - the trauma sustained - staring Hunter in the face, not Belos himself. And while Hunter is all alone in the shot, he isn't completely consumed by anguish, having a support network that's obviously offscreen but nonetheless there with him.

The only shots where he is dangerously alone with Belos would be from moments like this:

But he hadn't been unmasked yet, and we weren't even so sure back then about details such as his age, true motives and true intentions. And...any high angle that involves Belos never seems to be used to depower him.

The crew took consideration to respect the portrayal of this kid's experiences of trauma, and his development.

When Luz and Willow look down at him, he may be temporarily rendered powerless, but we can already trust that they won't treat him poorly:

Eye Level Shots:

These seem to be used for moments of uncertainty, keeping us on edge. We may wonder for a moment, where Hunter's loyalties lie, or wonder if he will survive a horrible situation:

But the eye level shot is also for us to connect as directly as we can with him.

This important frame from Hunting Palismen seems like a pretty unique Hunter shot in his entire arc. I haven't come across any other shot composition like this which involves him, though I could be wrong. He's standing between a taller scout (and the scout is actually lower in rank than him, yet Hunter can't produce the proof that he's their high-up superior) and Luz who is shorter than him. We may start to sense that he may be less powerful than we initially thought, and there are further confirmations of this in the subsequent scenes. This shot is not quite eye level, yet not a stark low angle shot.

With regards to the unhealthy vs. healthy mentorship he receives in the show, somehow we're told through the frame composition that wanting to be guided towards the right cause is very important for him, something he is emotionally invested in.

My ultimate takeaway from this is: the writers never want to convey that he is beyond hope and saving. There seem to be far more low angle and eye level shots of him when he is both masked and unmasked, yet different meanings are communicated: control while masked (furthering Belos's cause to wield power in the Isles) vs. empowerment when unmasked (Hunter's own personal agency).

There are a few lovely subversions of what we normally expect from low angle and high angle shots:

An empowering moment where Hunter is part of something that is healthy for him, instead of high angle shots that are normally depowering for whichever character is in focus.

This low angle shot achieves two things, I think: not only to highlight how terrifying Belos is, but also that Hunter isn't alone and has Flapjack and Gus to help him (especially since Gus could disarm him with powerful Illusion magic just before Belos charged at Hunter). No matter how you slice it, Hunter isn't dangerously isolated and isn't rendered helpless here, despite being very terrified. This nicely presents an equal chance on both sides of winning this fight (before The Collector is freed from their prison), and keeps us on edge.

And only today did I notice a pattern from significant frames in all the S3 specials:

Being on his knees. Look at dat body language!! But the camera never stares him down in a condescending, insensitive and detached fashion: it's once again a low-ish angle that meets him at eye level. Which goes to show how much connection matters to this kid, even in the form of us viewers connecting with him.

To wrap this up... When it comes to him feeling like he's part of something larger, we feel so different looking at these last two shots:

Belonging only to Belos, being owned, dangerously isolated but not completely silenced, reduced to someone whom Belos refers to as "this one", being a breakable "thing"...but later on: finding personal autonomy, his own voice, the things and people that he as an individual loves and wants to nurture and protect, not being above or below anyone in society.

To think that this gentle, empathetic kid's story started and ended at drastically different points.

#yet another spontaneous meta!! that's what this kid does to me #toh hunter #the owl house #toh analysis #golden guard #owl house cinematography #loz writes a meta

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tocomplainfriend · 2 months

Note

Responding to your post about fiction affecting reality: very well-written post and that’s something I agree with wholeheartedly!

Full disclosure: I am a Vivz supporter and don’t really interact with the critique community because of negative past experience (hence the anon), but I really liked your post as it was well-researched and brought up a lot of points that I did agree on. Mostly that, as you evidenced, “it’s just fiction” isn’t a great argument for poorly portraying a serious concept when there can be tangible consequences for that portrayal. And you gave some really striking examples.

In terms of Hazbin, it is not that I believe that Val’s portrayal as an abuser (and consequently Angel’s as a victim) lacks any impact, but instead that it adds a positive one. This isn’t something I’ve researched so the evidence I have of this is personal experience, but as you said in your post that media can affect real life I felt inspired to add to that conversation with how it personally affected me.

So I was aware rationally that a common result of abuse/SA is hypersexuality, like I’d seen that on psychology blogs and such but never really understood it. I’m ashamed to say I thought it was a little weird and very rare. Hazbin was what finally challenged that notion with me. Being able to see how abuse looks and attribute those events to Angel’s actions step-by-step made something click in my head. I even remember that shortly after seeing that episode, I apologized to one of my friends (a survivor themselves) over some judgmental comments I’d recently made over hypersexuality. Said friend also watched Hazbin with me and it’s the reason they talk more openly to me now and we’re a lot closer. Val’s “stupid” behavior in the show and mentioned in Vivz’s comments did not lessen the impact that episode had on me, or make it unbelievable to me that Val could be manipulative. If anything I understand more now that abusers don’t always appear as psychopathic masterminds. And I know my friend finds comments like the Mean Girls one funny and they tell me it’s empowering to make fun of Val’s incompetence.

That’s not the only positive influence Hazbin’s had on me, but the most relevant to your post, I believe. It’s the reason I’m often a skeptic on most criticisms, because my lived experience tends to go against them. You said the negative impact of Val was that people are drawing fetish art of him, but the only time I ever see that art is within critic’s posts. It never shows up in my regular feed, so it looks to me like he’s equally as fetishized as every other character; the unfortunate inevitability of the internet. I can’t say I’ve seen anyone post about stories like mine about learning to understand survivors, but I have heard positive stories from survivors themselves in person and online which lead me to believe that the positive impact outweighs the negative.

Fiction has real impact, very true. But consider that might be a good thing in this case.

Thanks for being respectful!

TW: Rape, SA

I'm a victim of SA myself and that's why I wrote all of this post. If you got something positive out of this piece of media, that's great. Same with victims that saw potion and were okay with it- that valid as much as the people that didn't like it at all. I recommend watching many others shows yourself (or movies, books, whatever) will help you out with sorts of topics in bigger ways. I understand you feel like you got something good out if (and I'm glad) but I do need to say, this is minimal in comparison to other media you could consume regarding the topic!

I personally suffer with Hypersexuality, and the treatment in the show (and merch and otherwise) I found completely wrong. Even if you got to a good understatement of the topic, please put research into it (also outside Tumblr for that matter! There are better places to find stuff about!). Thank you also for admitting your faults over your treatment of hypersexuality and apologizing for it. Many people will never let themselves grasp this concept, so thank you.

If you took Valentino's comparison to Mean Girls or Powerpuff Girl as a way of making fun of him, that's you. I found it, personally, terrible. Specially cause many comments regarding that (that I put on the post) were people actively disregarding the topic at hand. Saying that Valentino is just a karen, or He is Bubbles coded, feels so out of the realm of everything (the last one didn't feel like making fun of him). I don't like the comparison of an active sexual predator to a mean high school girl or a kinder garden girl that's regarded as bubblely or dumb. Feel like you should reach into his actions over It feels diminishing to me and other people (who also complained about this themselves).

People should be extremely careful of what they portray about this topic in media. Other stuff written in Hazbin or Helluva Boss regarding R-pe jokes also is extremely disgusting to me. Never forget that if you think this portrayal is ok, one episode apart it's a gang r-pe jokes towards Sir Pen... and an r-pe joke towards Moxxie in Spring Brakers. Which I find extremely disrespectful to do and adds to r-pe culture as much as any other r-pe jokes (general or towards men) in media. Especially when they want to portray it in a serious way with Angel, where was that energy then? (Don't say Viv didn't write that, she liked a tweet about the Sir pen joke, and the spring braker is written by Viv and Brandon.)

Also, about manipulation:

The tweet right below says that "He isn't manipulating them" because he is too stupid to do so. Responding "The Vees are just meangirls" it's crazy to me.

About "You said the negative impact of Val was that people are drawing fetish art of him, but the only time I ever see that art is within critic’s posts. It never shows up in my regular feed"

Val has being fetishized by the crew itself! The person (who is not an SA/r-pe victim said by themselves, who has being open of shipping ValxAngel and being into r-pe porn) is the one that produce the whole poison part of the episode (also based on his previously non canon ValxAngel comic). You could also go throught the people Viv's responds and likes and it's mutuals with, and they also do the same thing as this crew-member (Raph). Congrats that it doesn't appear in your timeline, tho. If this art appears in a critic post, it is because it's being criticized or brought up to make a point.

[It's not on my blog yet, but I don't like receiving double ask in the inbox, specially of anons! Sorry. I don't know if it's the same person or not, and I don't want to end up receiving 5 asks in my inbox again.]

#vivziepop critical #hazbin hotel critical #vivziepop critique #helluva boss critical #helluva boss criticism #vivziepop criticism #hazbin hotel criticism #helluva boss critique

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mirroredmemoriez · 3 months

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Werewolves designs and other shit

Got bored- Remembered I have free choice to make posts on anything I want... So here I am with opinions no one asked for. As the title suggests, it's about werewolves. Starting off, I don't believe I need to explain what a werewolf is. However, I'll put it out there that in most descriptions and depictions it's meant to be a humanoid wolf. I say this because you'll find that in some movies or books it's just a person turning into a giant wolf with no human features or movement such as standing on two legs. (Or like a minotaur situation where the body is a human, but the head is a wolf.)

Here I've collected just human references and anatomy- This is so I can make comparisons and such. Humans vary heavily in the way that we look, due to things such as lifestyle and genetics. At base level, of course we're HUMAN. However, things like our body types, hair texture, eye colour or shape and yada yada all can change the way we look and create differences between us and somebody else.

This is the same for wolves, though maybe not as noticeable compared to humans? Mostly things like their size, coat colour or thickness and etc is what separates them from one another. Looking at their head shapes also can show what species they may be. Generally, they're a pretty lean animal seeing as wolves are known for their running endurance to hunt prey. Being too big would slow them down... I mention this because some depictions of werewolves people make them too muscular in my opinion? It's like they're hairy body builders. Speaking of werewolves- Let me try draw this post back to where I started it! First I wanna look at almost shifted werewolves, so not fully transformed.

(Also I will be using depictions and characters which aren't labelled necessarily as a ''werewolf'' but share many features or similarities. For example, Bigby from The Wolf Among Us.) The common things we usually see is an increase in hairiness, canine growth and eyes becoming highlighted- Usually yellow, though sometimes the werewolf maintains their natural eye colour. We also have ears becoming pointed and the area around the eyebrows and forehead starting to protrude more. All of these things when done right I enjoy in a werewolf design! Though, it's a given that some do it better than others... One of my favourite werewolf designs and transformations has to go to the movie An American Werewolf In London.

This to me is one of the PEAKS of werewolves in media. I could probably make a full post on just this movie... It's one of the most iconic designs and for good reason. Not to mention, I love practical effects, especially in horror. One of my dreams is to make a movie with them. Enough gushing though. What do I like? Well, it's grotesque nature really. A transformation shouldn't just be BAM you're a ball of fur in my eyes. The amount of change is crazy and so glossed over.

The transformation literally has bones extending along with all the muscles and tissues alongside. Don't even get me started on what the organs may have to be doing? A human heart could not support a werewolf body, it just wouldn't be big enough... That muscle would literally have to increase in size to be able to deal with the power behind the body of a wolf. Yes, I'm aware they're supernatural and I shouldn't try heavily to apply science to them... However, I don't care? A TRANSFORMATION WOULD BE HORRFIC AND PAINFUL, SO IT SHOULD BE SHOWN AS SUCH! It's also why I headcanon that turned werewolves have the chance of just dying straight up with their first transformation, compared to ones just born as a werewolf because of how extreme the change is. Anyway! Some more designs.

I think what some suffer from, is leaning either too close to a human and or leaning too close to a wolf? They can't find a balance and at times it's like a worse rendition of the Cats movie.

Like here, the werewolves from The Quarry almost lean into some classic vampire depictions. The teeth I like! But the lack of hair and flatter snout just means it's not really screaming WEREWOLF at me.. More so a general mutant. (QUICK ADD! A flatter snout doesn't always break a design. It's just when other features such as hair are also lacking that it starts becoming less wolf in nature to me.) We've also got a more recent werewolf to look at... Which is Enid from the Wednesday show. Because fucking hell, that was a disappointment? She ended up looking like a mix between the Ice Age baby and Diego the saber tooth tiger.

They did her so fucking dirty... And it would actually be very simple to fix! This could be salvaged- It just wasn't. Somebody saw that design and green lit it and whoever you are, why? I think I'll end this here now because I've reached the image limit... If anyone has any questions about certain things I've mentioned, feel free. I also want to state that this is pure opinion and by no means supposed to spread hate towards anything? It's your world, if you wanna draw your werewolves like the Sims 4, who am I to stop you? THIS IS MAL OUT! AND IF YOU'VE READ ALL OF THIS YOU'RE SOMEHOW MORE UNHINGED THAN I AM CURRENTLY. (I MAY MAKE A PT 2 AS I DO HAVE MORE THOUGHTS AND MENTIONS TO MAKE.)

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maoam · 2 years

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I will keep reminding sns shippers (may I remind you this is criticism of the some parts of the fandom, not the ship) that Kishimoto didn’t create Naruto as girlish nor as a self insert for women. Naruto is HIS self insert. He gave many of his own traits to Naruto, like his loneliness as a child, him not succeeding at school, him wanting to show others what he’s capable of (that he can become a mangaka) and so on. He also wanted to be a more punkish, rebellious kid and that’s why he draws Naruto like that.

Not so dainty and moe right? Naruto is as far from a bimbo girl or Ariana Grande or Usagi Tsukino as one can be. He’s rude, brash and vulgar. If anyone remembers I wrote a post about how Kishimoto draws Naruto’s body language especially in his Kabuki inspired pieces to be brash and aggressive (according to Kabuki movements) and Sasuke’s as elegant, poised, soft and graceful in comparison. They contrast each other even in this way. Of course I need to stress Sasuke is not girly either. Since he’s a beautiful boy he can be feminine in appearance (unlike Naruto) but to think of either as girly in behavior is just projection from female readers who wish to self insert into either of them.

Naruto has his boyish, sweet moments which fandom downplays as just cute and infantilizes them, while completely erasing large parts of his character.

Even in Konoha Gakuen Den, Naruto is presented as a delinquent. Unlike others he keeps his shirt open which is offensive and vulgar in Japanese school (you are supposed to wear school uniform properly) and his behavior is like it is in the manga, rude and aggressive. He also wears a coat and a headband.

I know many don’t like criticism in fandom, but do people really like Naruto if they ignore his canon personality and how he presents himself and instead make him a mix of Sakura and Hinata? Just so he can be “the girl” in the ship and someone to project onto? It’s funny when people make fun of NH/SS for twisting the story while they do the same.

#sns #narusasu #sasunaru #mp #hello just me dropping another killjoy post : )

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thelostgirl21 · 10 months

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Jaskier, The voice of the Continent,

meets

Radovid, The Voice of the Fandom...

Seriously, it's like they decided to have a character fall in love with Jaskier, and finally tell him everything we wish someone would have told him since the beginning of watching this show...

You gorgeous, loyal, empathetic, caring, devoted sapioromantic pansexual bard with a heart of gold and the voice of a freaking angel, that sees others as they are, and brings out the best in them often at your own expanse...

It was high time someone finally saw you, too - caught a glimpse of the pain and weariness you carry in your heart (yet keep downplaying and brushing aside, afraid that others would be made to feel bad about it and stop enjoying having you around to keep them entertained if they paid too much attention to it) - and took the time to remind you that you are, indeed, enough...

Radovid kept insisting for a song...

And you gave him one...

Not a song singing his own praises - with the goal or making him more sympathetic or famous to an audience (so that the world could see him and care about him the way you do)...

Not one asking him for what he yearns for, while being frustrated and heartbroken over him apparently being so set on self-sabotaging that he's unable to return the love of those that do love him...

No, for once, you decided that you were done "entertaining others", and singing about what you think they want you to sing...

Instead, you chose to sing a song about what you need and yearn for in life...

And he learned it...

Jaskier sang to him before he left the palace, and Radovid freaking learned Jaskier's song by heart, after having attentively listened to every note and every word he sang only once...

How's that for a pie without filling?

They somehow managed to turn that new ship into a whole freaking Cruise Line in just 4 episodes!

Don't get me wrong, I do love Geralt and genuinely think he was attempting to push Jaskier away out of both self-hatred and a desire to protect others from himself in Season 1... But the things he said, and the way he used to treat Jaskier, still hurt him, affected his sense of self-worth, and left some scars.

I'm therefore not drawing comparisons to bash on Geralt and Jaskier's own relationship, but because I love the healing opportunities that Radovid's hopefully genuine romantic interest in Jaskier are providing.

i.e. They better not pull some sick twist on us, by having Radovid be revealed as a cruel, scheming villain that took advantage of Jaskier's goodness, feelings, and needs for his own gain; because I've a feeling heads would be found in boxes!

Just let him have his big gay spoon, alright? Or little spoon! But I kinda want Jaskier to be the one spooned with someone firmly holding onto him with no intention of ever sending him away right now, so...

Also, what's the new name of that ship, Jaskovid? I'll go with Jaskovid...

I also found it very interesting, from a LGBTQ+ representation standpoint, that they are seemingly going the route of a polyamourous pansexual character that might be somewhere on the gray-romantic spectrum.

i.e. That Jaskier would specifically need to experience a sapioromantic connection - be attracted attracted to one's wits and insightfulness - in order for him to experience any desire to enter a romantic relationship with them.

Will Jaskier remain polyamorous, both romantically and sexually, should Radovid himself be monoamorously romantically/sexually exclusive, and the two of them choose to fully commit to their romantic connection?

I guess we'll have to see!

But I still thought it was a very nice nuance to bring to the character.

And I could see this going many different and equally interesting ways!

Jaskier could enter a deeply committed romantic and sexual relationship with Radovid, with one, or the two of them, remaining romantically and sexually non-exclusive (ex: one of my polyamorous friends has a main romantic/sexual partner that they live and share their lives with, and another one that they regularly go on romantic dates with, but without the need for them to build their lives together, or see each other as often).

Jaskier could enter a deeply committed romantic and sexual relationship with Radovid, with one, or the two of them, staying romantically exclusive, but enjoying sexual polyamory with lovers that they have no committed romantic connection to.

Jaskier could be revealed as being more ambiamorous than polyamorous, and be completely comfortable and happy being in a romantically and sexually exclusive relationship with a monoamorous partner.

As an ambiamorous panromantic demi-pansexual myself, I've personally discovered that, while I'm comfortable being in a romantic polyamorous relationship, sharing an exclusive romantic and sexual relationship doesn't feel forced, nor like I have to make any efforts and deprive myself of anything I enjoy, if I so happen to be romantically and sexually attracted to a person that isn't polyamorous.

It's like my monoamorous v.s. polyamorous instincts are naturally determined by the preferences of my romantic partner.

i.e. In the absence of any romantic connection to my sexual partners (that I do need to share a strong emotional bond with, however), however, I'm sexually polyamorous.

If the sexual desires occur in the context of a romantic connection with a monoamorous partner, I genuinely stop experiencing any sense of romantic and/or sexual attraction towards anyone else than that partner.

If the sexual desires occur in the context of a romantic connection with a polyamorous partner, however, then it's like my heart and my body will naturally remain open to forming multiple committed partnerships with other people, often with one of those romantic/sexual partnership being perceived as a domestic/life partner.

So, with Jaskier, it's perfectly possible that he might lose all interest in ever romantically and/or sexually having relationships with anyone other than Radovid, should Radovid be revealed as a being a romantically and sexually monoamorous individual himself.

Just like he could be polyamorously romantic and sexual all the way, and being unable to offer Radovid any exclusivity (which wouldn't make the romantic connection they share any less real, deep, nor valuable).

Whatever path that relationship takes, however, as long as the love and empathy between them remains genuine and real, I'll be extremely happy!

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sisaloofafump · 10 months

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There are a few very important things to remember when discussing whether Batman, or any other character, should appear in My Adventures with Superman:

1. We don't know how many seasons we're going to get. Placing all your money on something happening in season 5 is not the strongest gamble without recognizing that we might not even get a season 2

2. Cameos and team-ups can take a bunch of different sizes. However, it can be difficult to do a cameo of an important character without it seeming like foreshadowing for a larger plot

3. Cameos are a lot of fun and don't have to include the character themselves (consider the Vicky Vale clipping or the Amazo Tech billboard)

4. There are a lot of Golden/Silver/Bronze age characters in the Superman family that might get priority

These are my personal thoughts on them:

I really think My Adventures with Superman should focus solely on the Daily Planet team (Clark, Lois, Jimmy, and Perry). However, in later seasons especially, I'd love to see some Lana Lang and her uncle Professor Potter! They're such a major part of the Silver Age comics that MAWS draws clear inspirations from. However, I'd really hate to see that become a love triangle situation in any real way.

MAWS is also inspired by the 1940 radio show The Adventures of Superman which is so evident. I keep having to remind myself that in this version, Jimmy isn't a 14 year old paper boy. I am really excited to see if Flip Johnson and this new incarnation of the Newskid Newspaper takes on either a parallel role to their Newsboy Legion versions in the 70s or to Jimmy's role in the radio show.

As for Bruce/Batman, I know there's a lot of discussion on whether he should show up because he dominates all DC media and fandom spaces right now. Although I don't want him to become central to any plot whatsoever, I would absolutely love a Bruce Wayne cameo or easter egg.

If we do get a Batman & Superman team up down the line, it 100% needs to include Robin. Not immediately, but in a later season or two.

I don't want Supergirl to show up - not for a long time at least. She is very important to the Superman Family, however she has such separate origins and identities and relationships that it'd be very difficult to properly flesh her out while keeping her as a secondary character. (In comparison, other heroes from their own franchises such as Wonder Woman, Batman, etc, don't need to be fleshed out in MAWS. They could just appear as occasional support. Because Supergirl is of the Superman franchise, she would need to take up lots of space to get cemented as a character. There is a lot less allowance for her to have off-screen activities).

Honestly, all of the superpets could be super fun, but if I could only have one it'd be Krypto. Without Kara there, I don't think it makes sense to have Streaky/Supercat or Comet/Super-Horse either (also Comet's backstory is just really weird). Beppo/Supermonkey and Krypto/Superdog were primarily part of Clark's childhood adventures as Superboy. However, Krypto is a much bigger part of Superman's legacy and I 100% want to see him interacting with the MAWS team!

Lucy Lane, Lois' sister and Jimmy's love interest could easily show up. That said, I don't think they ever knew what to do with her despite being such a reoccurring character. So it'd be really interesting to see how they'd portray her!

#dc comics #superman #my adventures with superman #Clark Kent #Lois lane #Lucy lane #Jimmy Olsen #Krypto #supergirl #Batman #Bruce Wayne #kara danvers

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djsherriff-responses · 1 month

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okie dokie @quixtrix

Gonna also tag @dextraicarus1994 since he’s a splinter cell fan and most likely has information to add to this discussion

We've heard the phase "everyone is the hero of their own story" at least once and while it's debatable if that is really true of everyone , there are some people who genuinely and unquestionably believe themselves to be the hero

And Sarah Fisher is one of those people

Unlike my Jade post, I'll be working somewhat backwards when it comes to evidence of my theory, primarily because one of the things that convinced me that Sarah has a hero complex was something that happens closer to the end of the first season

In the last episodes of CLH, we learn about Sarah's name and backstory. Her childhood where she got her father arrested , her military education and finally the death of her father

Sarah is a confusing character and until we get season two , theres so many questions surrounding her and very few, if any, answers to those questions

Did Sarah plan everything that happens in the show? If not, how much was Sarah's plan? Was her conversation with Dolph and Marcus genuine or an act? Or some combination of both?

What does Sarah really want out of all this? Did she have any involvement with Rayman becoming Ramon? If so, she's now the last of the board of directors and thus is in complete control of Eden, so what else can she possibly want?

And despite knowing first hand Eden killed her father , why did Sarah forego her human body and become a cyborg spider , essentially another cog in the machine that murdered her own father?

Is Sarah even "Sarah" anymore?

Then it clicked into my head that, the entire sequence of Sarah inside the VR , experiencing her past mistakes and trauma?

Can be read as a test of Sarah's convictions

Or other words, from her perspective ,she was on the hero's journey

And what's a common trope heroes experience? Challenges against their beliefs

Now obviously Sarah's character doesn't actually fit into the hero's journey , at least not without some twisting here. That is not important, what's important is that Sarah believes herself as the hero regardless of her actual circumstances or position in the world

Take note of how the hero's journey is about transformation specifically, as I want to draw a parallel to the anime/manga known as Land of the Lustrous. I don't want to spoil too much of that series as this is meant as a CLH post (I also need to catch up) but there is three pages from Land of the Lustrous I want to share

People who know of this series knows exactly what I'm implying about Sarah with this comparison, but for those who don't know what this manga is about: these three pages only has one character in them

Land of the Lustrous (or Houseki no Kuni) is a story set in a world where humans went extinct, but other humanoid lifeforms evolved from that extinction with one of those being immortal and genderless beings made of gemstones

The main character is one of these gem people called phosphophyllite ,phos for short, and their story is basically:

"what if the ship of theseus was a living being with a conscious?"

Keeping spoilers as minimum as possible, Phos , physically and mentally, undergoes drastic changes throughout the narrative both from circumstances beyond their control and the choices they've made

I believe , much like Phos, Sarah herself is a conscious ship of theseus

I want to bring attention to the connections between Bullfrog and Sarah , both in design and in narrative

Sarah's hair is the same colour as Bullfrog's hood , as well as being styled in a way that resemblances said hood. Both of these characters have colour palettes that share similarities with each other , in that they both primarily wear a monochromatic uniform with silver

They both also happen to have eye colours that's some shade of gold . Dolph's mother in the manga also has gold eyes. Coincidentally, both Bullfrog and Sarah are characters Dolph began to trust after he killed Alex for his betrayal

Bullfrog however leans more into wearing white while Sarah leans towards black, which happen to be colours used to represent themes of conflicting opposites , such as yin and yang or good vs evil

The other difference between them is Sarah has green accents while Bullfrog has red, which makes Bullfrog's palette more warmer while Sarah's is colder , fitting considering their personalities

Funny enough Bullfrog is a cold blooded frog hybrid. Meanwhile Sarah was is a human with a warm skin complexion

Red and Green are also opposites on the colour wheel, much like how Bullfrog and Sarah are opposites in the conflict between Assassins and Templars

Red and Green however, are complimentary colours too

As of season one we have very little regarding Bullfrog's life before the events of the show, but I'm betting my kidneys his life has some uncanny similarities with Sarah's

Remember how I said Sarah doesn't fit the hero's journey without twisting some things?

Bullfrog is an undeniable loyal, genuine character who does what he does out of the kindness of his heart. Bullfrog's heroism comes from caring for others and wanting justice

Sarah however, I believe has a hero complex that drives from her ego and a desire to control others

You can even say Sarah is a twisted remix of a hero

We can actually take a guess what experiences Bullfrog may have had in his life by comparing Sarah's life itself to the hero's journey set up, but let’s just focus on Sarah

I just want to have it at the back of our minds that Bulfrog’s life has likely paralleled with Sarah’s when we go down these points

Call to adventure: This is obviously when Sarah leaves the wasteland with Sam, her father , into Eden

Supernatural aid: Sam meets up with Marcus, who hacks the systems to help Sam and Sarah out

Threshold, beginning of transformation: Sarah snitches on the watch dogs

I want to put some attention to this moment of Sarah’s life as it has had a significant impact on her. Not only did her father loose custody of her and she was placed into Eden’s child care system (or whatever they do with Ray kids who expose their parents doing anything illegal) and was exposed to even more brain washing propaganda without any outside influence (her father) , but more importantly this was the first time in Sarah’s life where she had power over someone else’s fate

When Sam asks why Sarah did what she did, she replies “we have to do the right thing”. Looking at her body language , Sarah is not happy to be doing what she’s doing but fully believes, with no doubts despite her pained expression , it’s what she has to do , it’s the right thing to do

It seems odd, that Sarah was this heavily brainwashed and Sam was unaware of it up till this moment. Considering the wasteland is well, a literal wasteland I doubt there was much after school activity programs to influence Sarah this much. Sam seemed like a very attentive single parent so I can’t imagine the guy would let such pro Eden propaganda influences, such as the Rayman kids’ programs, anywhere near Sarah. Considering how young Sarah is in this flashback as well , she wasn’t exactly at the age of sneaking off and hanging with the wrong crowd

Unless Sam wasn’t Sarah’s only parent

Having a quick skim of the Splinter Cell wiki, Sarah’s mother in the games is a woman called Regan burns. Regan and Sam were on opposing sides during their military careers but that didn’t stop them from having a stormy affair, which lead to Regan becoming pregnant and having a troubled marriage with Sam. In the games Regan is cryptanalyst for the NSA , but who is Regan in the remixed universe?

During his introduction Bullfrog rambled about how his ancestors memories live on in his DNA , which is a reference to how in the assassins creed games people can use technology (or other means depending on game) to travel through the memories of their relatives (both close and distant) and learn information from them, it’s even how some get their assassin training

In some stories of the franchise, the main character is the direct child of an assassin, which puts further emphasis on bloodlines and their importance in the assassins creed

Just so happens, the templars use technology to travel through memories and bloodlines play an important role in their organisation , just like the assassins they’re up against

So it’s possible that, in this universe , Regan was a Templar and how she raised her daughter is what influenced Sarah “to do the right thing” and how Sarah was exposed to propaganda such as Rayman’s shows right under Sam’s nose

If Regan was a Templar, that could explain how Sarah not only knew about the order, but managed to get into the position she currently has in show. Regan’s influerence may also have given Sarah (and to some degree Sam) some advantages other people could only dream off, such as an opportunity to have a comfortable life in Eden and her military education

Thanks to Regan, Sam was still allowed to communicate with his daughter despite being a traitor

Dolph , as a fellow soldier in comparison, was taken from his mother and not even allowed any contact with her. He suffered so much just by virtue of having “good genetics”, Dolph and his mother in comparison did not commit any crime and yet ended up with a worse life than Sarah and Sam

If Regan is alive or not in the show does not matter now, what matters is that she was present in Sarah’s life long enough to make an impact on the girl

I do want to say while this was the beginning of Sarah’s transformation, the little girl wasn’t beyond saving at this moment in time

But Sarah, as stubborn as she is, doesn’t want to be saved

Sarah wants to save others

Challenges and temptations: Sarah’s years in the education system and her military training

Revelation , death and rebirth: Sam dies and Sarah makes the choice to become a cyborg

During their last conversation, Sarah brings up that thanks to her good grades, she’s been given the opportunity in becoming a cyborg. Sam is heavily against it , the two argue

Something interesting to note here is how defensive Sarah is of Eden , telling Sam “if Eden was so bad, you wouldn’t be in probation you’d be in jail” , and that he should be grateful Sarah is being given this opportunity at all “despite being the daughter of a traitor”

Sarah does not trust Sam to know what’s best. Not only for his daughter, but also not even for himself

When talking about how Sam died and her grief over losing her father, Sarah asked herself “was he right?”. Worth noting, Sarah never tells Dolph the answer to that question

That’s important because while it shows that Sarah did have doubts about Eden , no , herself , when it comes to how the world works, her behaviour in the last episode tells us exactly what the answer to that question is:

Sarah decided the answer doesn’t matter

What mattered was protecting her father from HIMSELF, and she failed

This was the moment Sarah’s fate was sealed

This was the moment Sarah shallowed her doubts, made the conscious choice to become a cyborg that would set her on the path to become sigma and never looked back

Regardless if she was influenced by Eden propaganda or her mother, Sarah came to her own conclusion about something that day: “order and peace will come through control and rules”

Sam , and all those innocent people, would still be alive if they just did what they were told

If Sam just did want Sarah told him to do

Before I talk about the last two points of the hero’s journey, transformation and atonement , I want to go back to that moment in Sarah’s childhood. The one where she had power

At an incredibly young age , even if it was just this one moment, Sarah had power over the lives of others and influence over what happens to those lives. This likely also made Sarah feel responsible for those around her , particularly feeling strongest towards her own father and his well being. This is where Sarah’s hero complex stems from

I’ve talked a lot about the hero complex, but what exactly is the hero complex?

“Noted author Laura Berman Fortgang, described the Hero Syndrome as a phenomenon affecting people who seek heroism or recognition, usually by creating a desperate situation which they can resolve and subsequently receive the accolades from. This can include unlawful acts, such as arson and attempted murder.” (Link here for further information about this)

We can actually see Sarah display this behaviour early on in the show, particularly in her treatment of team Ghost. The planting of bombs into their skulls under her control is the most obvious example but there’s two others I want to talk about

In the ending of episode 3, Sarah swoops in to rescue Dolph from his own suicide attempt. What she tells Dolph in this scene is damning evidence of her need for control over other people

“I’m the one who decides where and when you die”

Knowing in hindsight that she’s a Templar cyborg , she likely purposely planned it so that the news would catch her “saving” Dolph and label her as a traitor

Why exactly? Can’t really say, but I bet some part of it is just to give Sarah a little ego boost , convince the world she’s the underdog hero she sees herself as

But we can go further than that , in that Sarah wants control over how people live their lives, not just when those lives end in how Jade is treated by her

It’s really easy to assume Jade’s role in the show is due to sexism , and that’s possibly very much the case still

But comparing the role Sarah assigned Jade to the other ghosts, it really makes no sense that Jade was made to play the femme fatale

Dolph and Bullfrog were given jobs that they already do on the regular (Dolph stealing an item using his cyborg tech and Bullfrog sneaking into the building) and while Cody was (presumably) meant to be the one wrestling, Pey’J has the strength and body build to fill in Cody’s absent despite his lack of skills and experience in wrestling

Jade though? She clearly has no clue how to be a seductive temptress, and Sarah must have checked over the ghosts’ profile. Meaning she seen Jade’s profile and seen what she’s actually capable off

Unless Sarah didn’t actually want Jade to do her job

You know what else is common in hero stories? Damsels in distress

I think much like what she did for Dolph in episode three, Sarah’s plan in episode two was to rescue Jade. That obviously did not happen , but my point stands Jade was made a femme fatale so that Sarah can boost her own ego

It’s been brought up on Reddit that Jade’s hair (especially when styled by Sarah in the femme fatale look) resembles Sam’s hair

The two also have green eyes, and wears a hat that casts a shadow over those eyes

We could go a shippy route with this, but this post is already extremely long and I think there’s more interesting things we take from this than Sarah’s weird sexual fantasies

Whether it’s a subconscious thing or something Sarah is fully aware of, Jade reminded Sarah of her father

or rather , how Sarah views her father

I’ve talked a lot about Jade already over here but the point I want to bring to this is that Jade is a passive character in this show. Sam in contrast is not a passive character, but it’s likely Sarah wishes he was

I don’t think Sarah was ever intentionally ableist towards Sam , but combined with her having power over him which makes her feel responsible for his well being from a young age and her believing in the Templar belief that control is the path to keeping everyone safe, I do think Sarah doesn’t respect Sam as a capable adult, especially his life choices that lead to him taking part and dying in the wasteland war

I don’t know what this really means for either Sam or Jade as characters or if these similarities will play a part in season two. What I do know is that this shows Sarah isn’t above trying to mold people to her liking

Which brings me the final two parts of the hero’s journey

Transformation: Sarah becomes a cyborg Templar

”The Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment about whether an object is the same object after having had all of its original components replaced”

Since almost Sarah’s entire body is fully robotic , is it still Sarah’s body, or Eden’s property?

On the off chance that Sarah's brain is also robotic, is the things going through her head Sarah’s thoughts , or Eden’s programming?

Is Sarah even Sarah anymore?

Throughout this whole post I’ve spoke about Sarah , her hero complex and what may have influenced her behaviour. I don’t think Sarah came out of her transition into a cyborg member of the Templar order unscathed

While the ground work for Sarah’s hero complex were present, Sarah was once an innocent little girl who deeply loved her father. Sarah was not born into this world with an ego , she wasn’t born with an intense desire to control other people

Sarah wasn’t born with blood lust in her smile

It was not just Sam who died that day in the wasteland, Sarah’s humanity and connection to other people died with him

There’s something odd about the fact Sarah is the only member of the board of directors who is a cyborg , we know this because Ramon killed the rest way too easily. We also know from Ramon , that people who make it to the top don’t stay at the top

Much like Phos in HNK, Sarah is very much a victim of drastic change due to her own choices and circumstances beyond her control

and finally

Atonement and return: ???

I don’t really have anything to add to this part , mainly because Sarah’s story isn't finished yet

We’ll have to see how things play out in season two it seems : )

#captain laserhawk #captain laserhawk spoilers #hnk spoilers #sarah fisher #rambles #tw suicide #tw abuse #tw death #tw violence #this took me so many hours oh my god #This was gonna be a ship post but it completely derailed into this #I don’t know if Sarah is intentionally meant to be a fucked up version of the hero’s journey #But I do think her hero complex is on purpose

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