#this is not meant as a criticism btw i think its hilarious
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#svsss#svsss memes#found this in my drafts. sure i'll post it who gives a shit#this is not meant as a criticism btw i think its hilarious
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Do you have any current voice claims for the Lore Olympus : Rekindled characters you've introduced so far?
Also, kinda just curious, you can ignore this one: Are you slightly worried about Rachel finding out you're reworking her story, seeing how she doesn't take criticism well?(genuine q)
LOVE your art work, btw!
Fun question, but unfortunately I don't really have any sort of neat answer to it. I don't tend to think in the realm of voice acting/live action when I think of the characters I write, it's just not really where my brain goes. When I read scripts internally to myself, they tend to just be default imaginary voices that I use. The technical sound of the voice itself isn't so much important to me as the line delivery and how they communicate (so like, 'voice' in the sense of writing rather than auditory). So like, how often do they pause, do they use lots of filler words, do they breathe heavily in between sentences, do they speak in short or long sentences, do they get to the point or speak in run-on sentences, do they speak eloquently with bigger words or do they prefer fast-paced conversation with slang, do they have a stutter or any other vocal block/impediment, do they approach conversations with cockiness or modesty, that sort of thing.
More often than not my inner voice when reading dialogue to myself just tends to be variations of my own voice lmao My brain doesn't have much imagination in that department unless I'm imagining a specific person from the very beginning (so if you ask me to imagine Will Smith's voice in my head while reading dialogue, yeah, I can do that just fine, but if you ask me to do it in reverse by assigning a specific person's voice to the characters I write, I'm just gonna draw a blank LMAO) The only other voice that pitches in on the reading process is my husband when he's doing dialogue exchanges with me (so basically I'll read a few lines of dialogue to him, which will turn into him going "lol imagine if it went like this..." which then turns into us doing casual improv, it makes for a great way to come up with organic conversation or re-write punchlines). But my husband's voice definitely doesn't pop into my head when I'm reading my dialogue to myself, again my brain just automatically defaults to my own mind voice.
If there's a specific actor you imagine when you read Rekindled, though, I'd love to hear it!
Regarding question #2, yes and no? I'm less worried about her (because legally there's nothing she can do about it, it's literally just fanfiction lol) and more worried about her fanbase, people call ULO toxic all the time and yet it's the fanbase who have historically done all the shitty things like doxxing people, witch-hunting, dogpiling, bullying, etc. so I'm basically just waiting for the day that I get a flurry of asks or hate directed my way and I can go "yep, they found out about Rekindled" LMAOOO
But on the other hand, it is just on Tumblr and it's not even really parodying LO, it's basically any other AU fic with the exception of it being in comic form. Like, if someone found an excuse to bully Rekindled on the basis of it just existing, it would be pretty hypocritical (and hilarious) when AO3 is full of LO AU's from people who detest what LO has become just as much as I do. As much as Rekindled was born out of criticism, the comic itself is still just its own thing, telling its own story, none of what's in it is meant to directly mock LO or even outright criticize it - it's just aiming to take things in a different direction than the one LO took, with the motivation of giving the fans who have dropped off LO due to its lowering quality some catharsis (and a new reason to look forward to Saturdays). I think the pettiest thing about Rekindled on its own is that it updates 15 minutes before LO does LMAO
Of course, all that stuff about Rekindled not generating hate will only last if I stick the landing. So far so good, but we'll see how it goes as it diverges further away from OG LO (mostly with the plot as it drops a lot of the things that seemed to be used as distractions especially in S2 onwards, and we're not even really tackling S3 because of how much of a mess it is; we're still very much in the 'prologue' section of it where a lot of it is closer to the OG version, but we'll start seeing more diversions as it goes on).
So, yeah, I am a little worried sometimes about the "what ifs", but it's not a constant fear that lives in my head rent-free. I was definitely more anxious about it when I started, but so far it's been great and I know ultimately that when people do act out in my inbox, often times they're just fundamentally misunderstanding what my intentions are or the fact that I'm not trying to make them hate LO or "dethrone Rachel" (though I do make jokes about that LOL) I'm just doing what many artists have done before me - expressing myself and doing something in my own way with the disappointment I've felt over the past year due to LO.
Frankly, I also don't think any of the problematic stans of LO are even on Tumblr. I find most of the toxicity so far has been on reddit and Facebook (°ー°〃) So I think Tumblr has made for a very safe platform to post it to. I think if it were on Webtoons it would ABSOLUTELY generate a lot more hate, there are other H x P comics that have nothing to do with LO that get harassed by the LO fans just because it exists and happens to be about H x P (as if Rachel herself invented the myth).
#lore rekindled#lore rekindled comic#lore rekindled ama#ama#ask me anything#anon ask me anything#anon ama#lore olympus critical#lo critical#antiloreolympus#anti lore olympus
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I just- noticed sometthing
With the doggified hermits, in the first drawing Cleo was a human (well not a human but ykwim)
And then there was a drawing of them as a dog
This implies that either there is a human/zombie Cleo and a dog Cleo existing simultaneously
or that they just got turned into a dog at some point
both of those ideas are hilarious to me (this isn’t meant in a critical way btw, just found it funny)
KSDFJLDSKJ i was wondering if someone was gonna question that one day!
Them being turned into a dog at some point is very funny to think about dlgkj but if anyone want to hear the real actual answer, the truth is that the Jog predates the AU! Jog was conceived because of this post! It was just me drawing dm's joke
Then i was like "that was so funny i need to draw more Jog" so I did, Cleo (and Ren!) were also "human" on that post bc its basically a sequel to the drawing above. The idea of doggified AU itself were everyone is doggy-ed started with the Pixlriffs drawing.
I hadn't expect for it to grow so much after that dfgjld so the first Jog drawings are a bit inaccurate ^^''
#DOGGY LOREEEEEEEEE#dfljfldkhjfdh#ill so glad i drew more for it its been so much fun#makes me very happy people are enjoying it!!#:D#bucket of answers#get doggified
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could you do 9.10 and 9.13 for episode reviews.
Love your takes btw.
9.10 Final Thoughts
well, well, well, if it isn’t my old friend season 9. God I love season 9. buckle in.
Plenty of what season 9 tries to do with angel drama falls flat, but plenty of it doesn’t. It’s at its strongest when interrogating the ways that the angels are looking for personal purpose, rather than folding themselves into various suit-clad factions. In this episode, we have Gadreel, Abner, and Thaddeus, all with very different takes.
Thaddeus is the most boring of the three—a straightforward narcissist and sadist. (Lucifer will follow in his rockstar-impersonating footsteps in s12. SPN clearly has a dim view of the music industry.) We don’t care when he dies, and we aren’t meant to.
Abner’s found a family, and he’s let go of revenge. He’s clearly found peace and happiness—but it’s stolen. I’m ambivalent about this. I guess I could take his word that his vessel was abusive and therefore deserves to have been permanently body-snatched, and I guess I could believe him when he says his new family loves him, even though they clearly don’t know what he is or what he’s done. His regard for humanity as something other than a project is… uncertain. Even if everything is as sunny as he explains to Gadreel, there is fundamental selfishness and short-sightedness here. Get what you want, Abner says, and never let go.
Gadreel asks Abner if his vessel is happy. This reveals both Abner’s scorn for his vessel, and Gadreel’s uncomfortable awareness of and respect for Sam (and his bartender vessel, who Gadreel stares at, and who accepts Gadreel back easily).
Gadreel! OF COURSE Gadreel’s gotta be the scapegoat for Lucifer’s release, HAHAHAH. I love him to pieces, oml. Seriously, the Sam parallels could not BE more blatant. I’ve talked about this before, that it makes the earned antipathy between them all the more alarming, all the more visceral. The big sticking point is that Gadreel’s years of pointless torture came prior to his “redemption” arc, rather than as a consequence of it. Gadreel has all of s5 Sam’s despair and helpless anger and self-loathing, all of his drive to set things right at any price, and all of it is amplified by his trauma.
Sam and Gadreel’s relationship is defined by its liminal spaces. Gadreel threatens to tear Sam apart, but he does not, even when he is tortured. He locks Sam away in a dream rather than force him to watch him kill, or to suffer. But when Sam forces Gadreel out, Gadreel leaps instantly on telling Sam he is weak, reciting back Sam’s fears and Gadreel’s own. This reads like Gadreel is aiming quite a lot of his own self-pity and self-hatred at Sam.
Cas’s murderous rage at Gadreel when his identity is revealed is fun. It shows that Heaven’s PR team did a good job, for one thing. But Cas is furious because it’s specifically Lucifer. And the Apocalypse, and all the attendant suffering, his and Dean’s and Sam’s. It’s a personal wrath.
“Stupid for the right reasons…” oh, Cas, your scarcity of positive human role models is showing. Also, Cas’s particular brand of reassurance here isn’t actually something Dean has a problem with. He expresses regret over having been tricked—he says he’s stupid, he says he got played—but he’s never in doubt that his intentions were good. He’s never in doubt that he did the righteous thing. He’s never in doubt that he’d do it again.
Dean apologizes to Cas for barring him from the bunker. (Sam will not receive an apology.) Cas compares what Dean did to Sam to what Cas did by trusting Naomi. There’s a key difference here. Cas’s moral compass is not the problem; it’s his critical thinking skills.
Crowley, Cas, and Dean are a hilarious trio. (Also, I really hope that Cas’s pimpmobile got to Heaven too, like the Impala.)
Crowley being genuinely sorry that Kevin’s gone and his willingness to risk his life to help Sam are the best two moments of the generally weak Crowley-has-human-blood plot line. They feel earned. [also Crowley’s ‘I told Kevin he should’ve run!’ is both accurate, funny, and sad.]
Let’s talk 4.21 parallels! I mean, first, the glaringly obvious: Sam locked down to be purged of something supernatural; Sam suffering; Dean unable to bear Sam’s tortured screams; a very atmospheric fan. Dean walking away.
and then, of course, there’s “at least he dies human.” Right off the bat, Dean tells Cas he’s going to kill Gadreel. Cas, concerned, says that this will kill Sam too; Dean, sounding tortured, says he knows. Now, obviously, Dean doesn’t kill Sam. He doesn’t even get particularly close. But it’s really interesting that this is the first thing Dean brings up! He declares unprompted that he’s ready to kill Sam rather than leave him possessed. Which is both a recapitulation of the save-him-or-kill-him mantra, and an ironic twist on the decision Dean made in 9.01. Then, Dean knew Sam would rather die than be possessed, but had him possessed anyway. Now, Dean has decided instead that Sam must die because he is possessed. Obviously Dean’s opinion on the possessing entity has changed in the meantime: Sam’s hasn’t, but Sam’s isn’t what matters.
Dean reaches new levels of PEAK IRONY when he declares that Cas should possess Sam too. Cas has to actually point out that Dean can’t, in fact, volunteer Sam’s permission. Because apparently Dean had forgotten, lmaooo. Crowley, on the other hand, is happy to oblige. Dean directs Cas to burn Sam’s tattoo off.
The language of this entire scene is so sexual. I mean, it’s Crowley, of course it is, double entendre is his first language. But this theme recurs again and again. Here it is just more pointed than usual. It is queasy.
Gadreel has Sam trapped in a Dean-type happy place—a hunt with ghouls and cheerleaders, no organic produce to be found. And I don’t think it’s because Gadreel doesn’t understand what Sam likes. I think it’s because Gadreel’s aim was for Sam to feel comfortable, not blissful. It smacks of Hallucifer, just a bit—using the verisimilitude of Dean’s louder moods rather than trying to appeal directly to Sam’s contentment, because of his always questionable, always a question, sense of reality. If things were too smooth, too cheerful, Sam might just be suspicious. Sam is easier to trick by proxy.
The HORROR of this episode for Sam: Gadreel washing someone’s blood off of Sam’s hands. Crowley pushing needles into his brain. Sam’s body and life as a bargaining chip as Gadreel threatens to kill him, and then as Dean threatens to kill him right back. The quiet heartbreak as Sam remembers Kevin’s death, as he realizes the magnitude of Dean’s betrayal. But the worst part of it, I think, is somehow still Sam’s face when Crowley comes to get him in the dream where Gadreel stashed him. How his expression just crumples as Crowley tells him he is trapped in a lie, that his mindscape is once again a prison, that he truly cannot trust his reality. The sheer devastation of this on top of Sam’s history, plus the knowledge that Dean did this—and he pulls himself together and puts his foot on Gadreel’s neck and casts him OUT anyway. Sam Fucking Winchester.
and then the Bridge Scene. The lighting, the staging… it’s fucking gorgeous. It’s one of those scenes where I knew as I was watching it for the first time, seven years ago, that it was going to be something. I held my breath and still hold my breath. I can’t take my eyes off the way that Sam is shaking slightly, the entire time. The way he can barely meet Dean’s eyes but he does it anyway. He SAYS HIS PIECE, says it clearly, says it with an even tone despite what he’s gone through, despite the holes in his head that were healed seconds ago.
I love the gentleness between Sam and Cas here. I love knowing that 9.11 follows this. I love that there is no question that Cas will leave with Dean—he is staying with Sam, to heal and support him, even after he spent this episode mostly reassuring Dean.
Dean does not start this conversation to apologize. He starts out with the intent to DELIBERATELY egg Sam on: “come on, let’s hear it.” It’s an incitement, because Dean wants Sam to act angry, so that Dean can feel more justified in leaving. Sam does not rise to the bait.
Dean has an excuse for every point Sam has: I had no choice, you were dying, it’s not in me, he saved your life. He says, “I did a bad thing with bad consequences and I would 100% do it again, anyway, bye.”
And then the most infuriating thing: Dean is in the wrong, so he tells the person he’s wronged, ugh, I’m just such an awful poisonous person, I’m going to burn for this. It’s so clearly wrong-headed. Intentional or not, it’s such an obvious invitation for Sam to comfort him that it might well have been embossed. If this were in e.g. season 15, or if the crime he’d committed had been less awful, I can easily hear Sam’s reassurance: no, Dean, I promise you’re a good person, we all make mistakes. It is the most toxic way possible to frame a potential apology.
The textual theme of Dean-as-poison (and, for that matter, the consequence of Kevin’s death vs. the initial crime of the possession) is an intentional muddying of the waters: Crowley, Cas, and Dean himself all bring it up in some fashion, linking some fundamental aspect of Dean himself rather than Dean’s choices to Kevin’s death. Crowley is trying to be cutting; Cas is trying to be supportive; Dean is both excusing himself and camouflaging that fact in his exhausting self-loathing. There is a complicated interplay of what the text says about Dean’s guilt and what it condemns; this pattern continues throughout s9, and reaches its apex in the next several episodes. Dean’s love as a condemning feature rather than a redeeming one is one of my favorite things about SPN, and s9 has it in HIGH gear.
But, here, at least, Sam doesn’t rise to this bait either. “Don’t go thinking that’s the problem, ‘cause it’s not.” The problem is obviously, achingly, exhaustingly clear. Sam’s spelled it out in this very conversation: you tricked me. You lied to me. You got me possessed when I was willing to die. But Dean, and a fair portion of the audience, can’t hear it. So he doesn’t. And they don’t, and they pretend that this line is some sort of puzzle! a cliffhanger on a conversation unfinished! when it was the conclusion, not the beginning.
image that is now inextricable from 9.10
#9.10#final thoughts#I have even more to say tbh#sam and cas#sam and dean#dean and cas#sam and gadreel#sam and crowley#sam and possession#sam and abuse#dean and self-hatred#sam and forgiveness#sam and mindscapes#sam and trauma#blahdose
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…the ugly. SYAC: The Master Review 4
Last post I covered much of what I consider the good or passable strips of SYAC of the pre-Dobbear era. What I have admittedly not covered yet, were three certain characters of the strip that exist beside Dobson.
Persistent Pam
Curmudgeonly Carl
And… this guy I am not even sure has a name.
No, seriously. He shows up in like the 61th strip of the series for the first time and yet I never see his name mentioned once
All I know is that he is an accountant, who pities Dobson (for good reason)
And despite Dobson not liking alcohol, they regularly meet up in a bar as if they are some late 80s comedy duo
Funnily enough, he shows up way before Pam, who would have her premiere in these strips
And despite only showing up in a few strips after her premiere (mostly to make “fun” of overbearing and snarky commissioners I suppose…)
She actually managed something no other character or series by Dobson managed to get: A fanclub
Not that she would really be of any major importance afterwards.
As for Carl, he is supposed to be something like an antagonistic embodiment of Dobson’s “old” art teachers and people being stuck in old ways, who shows up for the following strips forming a sort of arc.
In addition, it is very obvious, that Carl is supposed to be a mockery of people flaming Dobson. Not helped by the fact that THIS character sheet of him made by Dobson assures us, that there were quite a few even less “endorsing” things he wanted to name the character.
Yet funnily enough, Carl turned into such a popular character with readers, Dobson was essentially “forced” to make him reappear in other strips. Not of the “classical” SYAC strips, but he showed up as the “antagonist” to Tenku in the storydriven multi pagers. Though even antagonist is a strong word, as he is essentially more of a jerkish art teacher and college advisor who is harsh on Tenku, but actually has his best interests in mind. To the point he even offers him to be his “harsher” art critic in the years till he enters college, because he wants to see him grow artistically.
However, Carl was also more of an “accident”. Cause when it came otherwise to tackling criticism or things that irked Dobson (and were not anime related) he would end up more or less creating strips that painted him in a manner where he would supposedly always look like “the better” compared to his opposition or mock it. Which is where a lot of the irk Dobson would earn over the years eventually comes from.
Now to be fair, I do not want to call every comic in that regard “strawmanning”, nor do I want to say that Dobson doesn’t have the right to also mock to a certain extend the mentality of certain “snobs” and so on. For example…
On one hand, I know there are people out there who think they are “special” by having the best tools at their disposal. When in reality you can achieve good results also with less expensive stuff. So mocking that sort of attitude is fine to me to some extend
BUT, when you also make down the line a comic like this…
… essentially making yourself come off as a “better” artist or person than others because you have “chosen” the better mass produced crap (btw, that is coming from someone who types this review on a Mac that runs Windows) , then the hypocrisy ends up to be rather strong with you.
Which is also essentially the biggest issue with the strips I am about to show. The hypocrisy of Andrew Dobson. And no, I do not mean the tumblr blog by that. I mean the simple fact, that the content of some of the soon to follow strips gets kinda muddled when you take into consideration some of the things real life Dobson had said and done either at the time or in the years to come. Well that and the way how he tries to mock issues people have with his work, not realizing how he is essentially just reassuring those “silly critics” in their opinions while making his flaws more obvious to people that may have been previously unaware of them.
But enough talk, let me just show you in quick succession examples to confirm said point.
Considering Dobson’s longterm disdain for DnD you have to wonder what the joke really is outside of him portraying DnD players as ugly nerds, supposedly too geeky even for him. Which is hilarious in hindsight as he would years later become a fan of TAZ among other things.
Less hypocritical but the set up is kinda flawed. Like, you are obviously at a convention trying to sell stuff. Why would some old dude not interested in “kids crap” be at the convention anyway? Is he just bringing someone there and just wants to go, but first needs time to belittle your life choices?
Rather hilarious in hindsight to me. Cause for someone claiming he has ideas that last for a life time and who seems rather distraught on the idea of others giving their input, he turned out to be so in need of ideas. Alex ze Pirate e.g. became from 2015 onward only defined by Dobson talking about the sexualities of his characters (and not even in comic as by that point it was discontinued, but rather in tweets and so on). Formera, which ran heavily on cheap shonen anime tropes ended up cancelled after two volumes, Cabin Rest was a failure after 20 strips, 2019 he relied primarily on cheap comics about Miraculous Ladybug and his understanding of certain genres is so bad, he can’t even think up the most basic ideas for a magical girl story.
Weirdly enough, that pitch of a garbage truck driver who fights crime? I think that could make for an enjoyable short story about a vigilante a la the Punisher or Sin-City.
The way Dobson perceives criticism, while also essentially giving a quick rundown how he appreciated criticism in his childhood way better than in adulthood. Yeah, because criticism by your parents as a kid was always VERY constructive. (looks back at certain drawings from own childhood) brrr. And sorry Dobson, but sometimes criticism by strangers is better than criticism from friends. Cause friends may mince their words. Plus people have over time given you quite some insightful criticism aside “U SUX” when it comes to comics. You were just never willing to listen
Hey Dobson, you hear that? That is the sound of your career, dying and no one caring.
Yeah, I think someone who made such “brilliant” comedy as in these comics, totally has the right not to listen to what seems to be solid theoretical advice.
BTW, that Talus comic… I swear to god the worst “joke” Dobson ever told.
Wow. You essentially make a point why you suck at drawing. While still not trying to change.
And as someone else once said: Don’t play with fire if you can’t deal with the heat, BLOCK-son!
This is not how I perceived your shit over the years. See, on one hand it is true that Alex ze Pirate e.g. has its own webpage to read the comic for free. HOWEVER most of his comics Dobson would hide from the start behind a paywall. The idea being that he would e.g. put a small reading sample of 10-15 pages up somewhere and then expect people to buy his comic for full price to get the rest. And you know, if you are e.g. a professionally published writer, that is fine. But when your average art output looks like THIS
And you expect people to pay more than 10 dollars for something that is only around 70 pages long while most people can get 200+ pages for the same amount of money that look like this…
You can frankly go and screw yourself.
On one hand I get that the joke is meant to be, that as an independent content creator you may find yourself in a weird spot where your “child friendly” work may be put in a palace between edgier stuff other creators sell at conventions. On the other hand, I find it rather insulting in hindsight, that self declared feminist Andrew Dobson portrays such competition as either psychopathic murderers or stereotypical cartoon bimbos. If modern day Dobson saw the same strip by any other person, he would be insulted on behalf of the female that she is portrayed as a bimbo, when she could also be a very smart and attractive woman who knows how to tell brave and sexy stories.
Also, I have read your “child friendly” stuff, Dobson. I would call Atea or Alex abusive bitches who like to bully orphans but child friendly? Not to forget that your work is so basic and shallow in depth, it’s like the someone tried to create a chimera out of some of the worst traits associated with Dora the Explorer, 80s toodler cartoons and the Fairly Oddparents.
I frankly hate this theory on comedy. It is true, a lot of comedy can be deprived from conflict, misunderstandings etc. Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry and other cartoons as well as screwball comedies such as Rat Race can depend on it. Heck, one of my favorite comedians of all time is Christopher Titus, who based his entire career on the misery and absurdity of his life.
But comedy is not just defined by misery and conflict.
There are for example also the following theories when it comes to comedy…
And to get back e.g. to Titus, yes, he has build a lot of his comedy on the bad stuff that happened in his life. But he is also someone who in his comedy has build a lot of punchlines on the absurdity of certain situations he has been in life but which in a way have enriched his life positively.
What I am trying to say is, comedy (and entertainment in that regard) does not just have to be defined by misery. And all things considered Dobson, you could have really tried to also just make comics wherein either you or your characters are just happy with their situation in life.
For example, this page from an Owl House fancomic?
I think it holds more entertainment value than your “joke” right here, despite not even telling a joke.
Simply because as a page overall, it tries to convey a positive emotion. Which is more than I can say about the strip.
Because of a lack of different level of thickness regarding your lines, which would trick people into perceiving depth, the fact that the fill bucket and shade layers can only do so much to cover for the rather monochromatic dull nature of your comic, the fact that your characters are not really all that complex and look rather simplicstic even compared to stuff from a comic like this…
And that is just coming from the top of my head as someone who never studied art. If any reader has something to add, I am willing to listen
And considering you could in later years never keep up to any release schedule, which among other things resulted in only three SYAC strips in total being released in 2016, I say go fuck yourself. Not to forget that even some of the worst newspaper comic strips out there tend to actually find a decent following and good jokes eventually, otherwise they would not manage to stay popular for years, if not even decades.
As someone who has worked internships a lot in life, I just want to say fuck you in all our names. Glad to see you having just as much respect for interns than any other scumbag on the planet. Probably even less respect, cause you know, in some places interns tend to get paid.
Also, there is supposedly an entire real world story going on about Dobson having worked at his former university at the time the comic came out and Chaz is based on a fellow intern.
Things are unfortunately rather vague in that regard and only hold up by demonstrative evidence such as the name of Chaz showing up in certain pages of the university and Dobson’s internship being mentioned somewhere.
Well, would you look at that: People have different opinions on your stuff.
There are ways to draw memes funny and then there are ways to fail at them
You failed.
Funnily enough, that comic rings a lot truer to text than you expect. Considering how Dobson would often emulate certain aesthetics in his comics of shows that were rather passee by the time he published his stuff, plus how he will obsess over certain trends and games for years to come (like Skyrim or his Quiet Hate Boner) while also being unaware about current trends (how do you e.g. not have heard of My Hero Academia by 2018 at least once by accident?) Dobson has always been kinda late to the party. Missing the “zeitgeist” of nerd culture and as such never quite finding an audience.
Yeah, what Pam says. Not helped by the fact that yes, the floating eyebrows are real. Look at some earlier sketches or “professionally published” comics by his and you will see that each time characters get excited, their eyebrows will suddenly split into sets of three and float higher than Pennywise’s victims.
Ironically, that fits real life Dobson at the time and later on even more so than this comic version did. Sorry, but what am I supposed to call a person who has an hate boner on anime for years for superfluous reasons, made Danny and Spot a “gaming webcomic” deliberately to piss on non Nintendo fans and has admitted in some by now deleted youtube video, that he kept a list of usernames from an old forum just to remember even years later the people that were mean to him online?
Fuck both of you. I do not expect the Sixtin Chapel in the background, but something to filll up the empty space behind you is at times needed.
The comic here is actually called politics.
… ironic how things changed once a certain reality show host turned president.
Jesus Christ. I am not even that much of a Transformers fan (Prime fan for life however) but even I know that this is not supposed to be what you design the head of a Transformer like. Not even if they ever produce the Transformers equivalent of Teen Titans Go.
Too bad you still can’t stand the heat, otherwise you wouldn’t have completely disappeared last year.
When you know you are in a no win situation, and still manage to choose an even dumber option to escape. I really don’t get it. I just think the Portal reference makes the comic dated and Dobsn’s attempt at a smug face looks so stupid. Like his cheeks are falling in and his mouth is about ready to get raped by a garden hose or something.
Yeah, considering Dobson’s later constant need for safe spaces and to be in control of a situation and the narrative, which led to so many blocks over the years… if you know anything about Dobson, how this comic becomes harsher in hindsight is rather self explanatory. I just want to say one thing: There is a difference between genuine agoraphobia and just wanting to be by yourself. And I think Dobson just prefers the later on average. Which is okay, but humans still need to interact with other human beings in one form or another, even just for the sake of keeping their mental health stable. Why do you think are so many people getting depressed in times of covid lockdowns, despite many having all sorts of technical gimmicks at their disposal to at least keep boredom at bay?
And by putting himself into a bubble like that, I think Dobson has deprived himself of some of the most basic human interaction, which was likely a severe factor in his mental degeneration over the last years.
It is still a valid suggestion! Just draw some cartoon characters or a nice fantasy scenario on a mural and earn yourself some bucks. Just be sure they are not by Disney or the Mouse will tear down the school!
… Just google up the words Andrew Dobson and Samus Aran commission by ED and you will see how this comic just further shows how much Dobson seems to actually be proud of being an unproductive asshole.
And by the way, I know that any form of artistic work takes time. Just writing these review posts takes a lot of time for me. But that doesn’t change the fact that people should post and create stuff in a timely fashion, especially when there are e.g. deadlines to hold up too. And by the way, Sloth’s don’t have fingers, they have claws!
And that is it.
Sorry if I missed anything folks, but I just saw how many pages in word this is already filling up, so I call quits for this part here right now. I think I made my point about how Dobson trying to badly deflect arguments people may make against his art and work ethics via jokes clear enough, while also showing some posts that are either harsher or hilarious in hindsight.
Next time we will however address one certain issue about our main character, that has been not directly addressed here. In the meantime, have a little fun video that shows hopefully how entertainment and a certain amount of comedy can be gained NOT via misery.
youtube
#adobsoncomic#Andrew Dobson#Tom Preston#comic#webcomics#syac#so...you are a cartoonist#review#master review
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it’s always a good moment when I see a critical role episode with so many things happening that my adhd can’t help but develop a mind of its own, so now that my hyper-fixations have stopped beating the shit out of me theres a couple things I wanna bring up most of it theory stuff and the rest personal things. btw its a long post be warned.
SPOILER ALERT- I’m talking about ep 117 of critical role and its a doozy.
I’ve doing my recent posts in a different format and I’m liking it so I’m gonna use it here. btw I gonna mention some ship stuff I want to make clear I have no hate for any ships mentioned but unless I say I like the ship just assume I’m indifferent.
1. I gonna say I called it because even if I’m wrong about about future stuff I was right that it’s not just Lucien in that body, even if Lucien is completely right about molly as the group knew him is gone forever Molly (which I don’t believe at all) is still a fragment of lucien’s soul. now past that I do think molly as a conscious being is still in there and trying to connect with his friends. why? because theres this weird disconnect with how lucien acts communicating with the m9 from a far vs in person, in person it seems like he had his guard way up but when they scry or message him the barrier is lowered a bit I think when his guard isn’t up Molly bleeds into his actions and mind more. I personally see Lucien at being 130% whole because Molly grew into his own thing.
2. regarding my predictions for this episode I’m gonna give myself 2 points (with 1 of the points being made up of half points) I was hoping for flirting and I think we definitely got some version of flirting between Lucien and Caleb so I get a half point for that, not gonna lie I was a little freaked out (in a good way) how fast Lucien zeroed in on Caleb, I hope if things don’t go pear shaped we get to see those two interact more.
3. Personal thing I really wanted to smack Fjord and Veth for most of the episode like they both had moments of being rational (fjord more so) but for the most part i just want to slap them.
4. it was kind of hilarious to see how freaked out Lucien was of the m9, like there was a little of the bad kind of freaked out feeling I think it was mostly like how Ludinus felt meeting Jester. like poor Lucien he’s just doing his thing and suddenly this group of puppies imprints on him and follows him around poor guy. Seems like Lucien has so distrust towards the tomb takers with the whole ‘we are one’ thing, it seemed to be a recent development. I’ve seen people talk about whether the tomb takers/Cree will backstab Lucien I think it’s possible.
5. I think some members of the m9 have realized Caleb’s not doing ok, most likely from the corpse scene and him talking over Beau (bad caleb bad). what they do with this info is gonna be interesting I personally think Cad should talk with him in private maybe have yasha there as well (also hugs please someone hug the sad wizard man him and Yasha both need it).
6. personal thing I don’t understand jester x Fjord as a possible canon ship at this point in the story like i got it in early campaign but I think they’ve both grown and changed to the point where a relationship between the two would end quickly after starting (whether in tears or not). the only times I like seeing their romantic interactions is when Laura and Travis bleed through and at that point its nots really jester and fjord. again no hate you do you I just don’t understand the appeal.
7. I’ve not watched campaign 1 for a few reasons yet but I’ve done research on some of the bigger events one of which was Percy’s resurrection where Taliesin watched how everyone was acting to decide whether to come back or not. I think Cad’s whole talk about what the rest of the m9′s goals towards Molly/Lucien is first Taliesin’s way of deciding whether Molly will be a npc after this arc or if he picks up playing him again (this all of course depending on whether the m9′s stupid actions don’t get Lucien killed), second I think this is Cad’s way of deciding whether his “debt” is payed and if it’s time for him to leave. To be clear I don’t think this was the final decision I think it was the first step to see whether anyone could say they want their friend back and we had two (almost 3) say yeah they do so I think it was a good start.
8. I can totally see Lucien kidnapping some of the m9. this sounds weird but stick with me, it looks like the tomb takers as a whole have a few important spots missing in their mission like they (probably) have a blood cleric in Cree the goliath and halfing seems more strength based I’m not sure about the human and Lucien is filling spot of a little bit of everything. Lucien has already pointed out Caleb as being curious and smart so I think out of the party is Lucien steals any of them it will be Caleb, if not Caleb tho I think Yasha could also be one that gets his attention (especially if Lucien ever sees them fight) I don’t he would kidnap anyone unprompted but if they go through with their stupid plan I’m sure he’ll want payback.
9. I get a full point for crying at both the Yasha clover scene and Molly’s card about Caleb.
10. So my best friend is also a fan of critical role but he always works Thursday’s so he’s behind on actively watching the shows, but I can watch them so I take notes of all the funny, interesting, and weird shit that happens then I call when he gets off work to tell him everything that happened then we talk about what we think will happen next. why does this matter? because before the molly reveal when we first heard about them going to aore (I don’t know how to spell the ruin place) I said I had a feeling Essek would probably show up and run into the m9. well I was right so i’m supper happy, hearing floaty bois voice was awesome I hope Essek and Lucien meet at some point (hopefully not while trying to kill each other that would be sad).
11. Caleb’s eighth floor is so interesting like I hope we get to see all the rooms at some point, I think the room we saw this episode was his room at the asylum (mostly from it’s disarray and how drab it was) as for who he was talking to? I’ve seen a lot of people says its Essek or Astrid (I can smell the incoming discourse) I think it’s neither, it’s probably the simplest answer himself or more specificly Bren. I think he was talking to the Bren that spent years in that bed and chair wasting away.
12. wtf do you mean the big snow worm has a double reason for hunting the party Matt?! (I have no clue what that means).
13. the m9′s decision to try and get to A2 before Lucien and take whatever is there is such a shit idea, why did he kill Vess because she was a traitor she betrayed him what are they m9 about to do betray him even after the warning about straying from the path (which btw I think was molly warning them). If they actually go through with this plan I hope Cad is right on Lucien getting amused at them instead of fucking pissed. good news is that even if they get there before Lucien they could still salvage the thing with Lucien by saying they wanted unbiased answers. I get they’re grieving and in a bunch of pain but use the common sense I know you have and learn more about whats happening before fucking it all up. (also I get half a point from Lucien kicking Vess’s body)
14. I will say I mostly loved this episode (except for the ending) but them talking about possibly scattering Lucien to get Molly back no matter how brief did unsettle me a lot. no matter my feelings about Molly this is Lucien’s body when he was scattered molly did have the right to the body so I don't think any of his actions were wrong or bad but now that Lucien is whole again his bodily autonomy should not be violated just for a unsure chance Molly would come back. As it is Lucien seemed already uneasy and annoyed with stuff molly did (ex-tattoos).
15. I originally wasn’t gonna put this point but I think I should. when Taliesin said “he thought they would be on the other side of this” I think most people thought it was in reference to how it seems like Lucien is evil (I still don’t think he is) but what if he meant Molly’s arc. think of it wouldn’t it make sense for Molly’s arc to focus on his past coming back to meet him what if they always intended for Lucien to become whole again and it was suppose to be Lucien’s thoughts/feelings bleeding into molly’s. but Molly died so instead we’re getting the inverse Lucien has to come to terms with his past as Molly and the people Molly left behind coming into his life. I think it would be a good arc him learning that you can’t run from or ignore the past no matter how much you want to it can and will come bite you in the ass. would also make sense why Lucien and Molly both have that attitude towards their pasts (you know other than being pieces of the same person).
#critical role#Mollymauk#cr lucien#I already had an idea for Lucien kidnaps/saves Caleb story it's only grown now#I hope Yasha and Caleb get a hug soon#lets the introverts cuddle and cry together#Lucien and Caleb need a ship name#Don't look at me I'm terrible at naming things#so happy to see floaty hot boi again#he sounded happy to hear from them#Matt and Taliesin both had faces that I have deemed untrustworthy this episode#ray's interests#keep forgetting that one
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Voltron S8 Review (SPOILERS)
SPOILERS AHEAD FOR VOLTRON SEASON 8 PEOPLE!
OK, so I just finished Voltron Season 8. I had to watch it a day late because I went to see Into the Spiderverse (which was REVOLUTIONARY btw, I highly recommend seeing and supporting it!)
One of my biggest fears about watching it late was that something would be spoiled for me by twitter/tumblr/youtube, and although I got through it without any spoilers, I did see some general negativity surrounding the finale, without really knowing why though.
But after finishing it, I took a look at some of the comments to try to decipher what it was that made people think it was so terrible! So, here are my thoughts on the finale itself, and on peoples’ thoughts about the finale:
First, I would just like to say thank you to Voltron.
I have never been one for shipping battles, and I was never concerned with all of the controversy surrounding the political statements that could be made through the show.
My main focus was the story, and my connection to the characters, particularly Keith. No, not just because I think he’s insanely attractive.
Because, he reminds me of myself…I also struggle with trusting other people, and I often think I can do everything myself or that it would be easier if I took control of the situation. I’m not patient enough to give others a chance, which is something I recognize and am working to change.
So, Keith’s development embodies my own objectives. Which is part of the reason why I love him (the other being how HOT he is).
Keith aside, everything in this season was meant to display the core idea of this story: strength through unity. It is something I hope to truly experience one day, and I think it has been demonstrated beautifully throughout the show.
It is obvious to me that a lot of effort, thought, and work has been put into animating and producing this series, something that I am angered to see not appreciated enough.
Even when you don’t enjoy certain aspects of the story, there is NO DOUBT that the creators deserve respect. Respect needs to accompany criticism of the series, or else how can you possibly expect the creators to respect your criticisms?
So, to everyone who worked on Voltron, from the seeds of its creation to its conclusion, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and I wish you the best in all your future endeavours.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with next :)
I guess I shall split this next part of the review into things I didn’t particularly like, and things that I liked.
Starting with the things I personally didn’t enjoy (and some other commentary):
a) Allura and Lance:
Ah yes, the dreaded Allurance. Although I said that I wasn’t heavily involved in shipping in this show, I was unfortunately all too aware of the war waged within the fandom, which frankly, was more chaotic than the war in the show itself :’)
Other than Lotura, I didn’t ship anyone with anyone else, personally. And I understood the resistance to Allura and Lance becoming a couple. I didn’t feel any chemistry between the two of them, and particularly for Allura, I only felt that she saw Lance as her family, just as she saw all the others.
Like, when he confessed to loving her in Episode 1, I felt that her reaction was something akin to “UM, cool, cool. Same here." However, there is no denying that the seeds for this union were planted from the start of the show. It would be foolish to think that this wasn’t their plan all along, really.
But somehow, it just didn’t click. I can’t wrap my head around why, though! For me, I think that I prefer the idea of two characters coming together as friends, and then romantically, if they’ve been helping one another overcome some emotional trauma. You could argue that Lance was doing that for Allura, but it didn’t really happen until this specific season, and so, it didn’t quite establish the strength of their bond in time for their romance to feel like anything but just something that happened.
ALL THAT SAID, their scenes together were still very cute…and the Altean markings she left behind on his face BROKE ME. If only the strength of their union, and their mutual love for eachother, was established a little earlier - season 6, maybe - it may have felt more right.
And when she left him behind, I expected MORE from him, resistance-wise. I didn’t like that he just…let her go, after a few tears and a kiss. I wanted him to pull her back, to offer himself instead, or to see him destroyed when they were returned to their reality.
But, I’ve never experienced this type of loss before. And, maybe, deep-down, he knew that he could do nothing to stop her. I just…wanted to see more from him.
Even when she had absorbed the entity. His role was too, too passive. A few times, he’d go “Allura, um, I don’t think this is safe…maybe we should think about this…” and Allura would respond with “No, shut up I know what im doing”, and Lance would just shut up. I wanted him to pull her and shake her and force her to come to her senses!
b) Allura’s death:
I am really sad to say that I knew this was coming.
I can’t believe the leaks were real. I guess they didn’t technically spoil anything because there was also doubt surrounding their authenticity.
And even knowing that it would happen, I AM NOT OKAY WITH IT.
I am happy that they established very early in this season the lengths to which Allura would go to stop Honerva. It was always clear that she was ready to sacrifice herself. Even when she was saying her goodbyes, she seemed to already have come to terms with the fact that her path was ending.
But, that doesn’t mean I’m happy with it.
You know, it’s interesting, I always say that I hate “happy” endings. I prefer my endings to be bitter sweet - like green tea lemonade. So, for everyone to get what they want — that to me is just too good to be true, and bothers me, because real life does not have a neat little ending like that.
So, I knew the ending had to be enveloped in some amount of loss. But for Allura to lose her life, after all that she’s lost, I had hoped she would get to keep her future.
Even without her past, that she could move forward and forge a new world for her people, and get to see that world with her own eyes. IF ANYONE deserved this, it would be Allura.
And like other people, I was really mad that she never had an opportunity to say goodbye to Coran, who was essentially her father figure, or to her own father’s soul.
So, in short, I didn’t want the “death” of the show to be Allura’s….but we don’t always get what we want…
c) Honerva:
I hated her, and not just because she was the antagonist.
The hilarious thing was that Season 8 had the exact same plot as Into the Spider-verse :’) And I still don’t understand why anyONE, crazy, evil, or otherwise, thinks that it’ll be a good idea to travel between REALITIES to find another version of your lost family.
I guess IT’S TRUE that people would do anything for their family, but it seems ridiculous to me that they wouldn’t consider the possible consequences for themselves as well their own world. It’s like time-travel. You just don’t mess with that shit.
But I also hated her as the antagonist. Her objective to me was just not compelling enough…I didn’t really feel her love for Lotor or for Zarkon. I just felt that she was cray cray.
For example, consider Castlevania: a show that excellently protrays the antagonist (Dracula’s) loss. You see why Dracula loved his family, the kind of (immortal) life he could have had.
But other than a few scenes when they were in her consciousness, I just didn’t really believe in her love.
I didn’t want to see her reunited with anyone. I just wanted her to chill out and leave my babies alone.
I also didn’t like how easy it was for Allura to sway her at the end. She seemed so weak-minded and stupid, despite having all the power that she did.
WHY DID ORIANDE EVEN CONSIDER HER WORTHY?!?!?!?!
d) Some other things:
I wasn’t a huge fan of the amount of action comprising this season. I mean, not that it’s the show’s fault - this is a space opera about giant mechs, so obviously, there are going to be space and mech battles.
But I guess I prefer ground/hand-to-hand combat. It’s hard for me to follow mech fights, and I just like sword fights. This is a matter of personal preference, though.
BUT, I will say that because there were SO MANY Robeast/mech fights, there wasn’t as much time for character-character interaction.
So, that made me sad.
So many opportunities gone - opportunities for James/Acxa and Keith to interact (esp after the Ezor/Zethrid conflict), etc.
This season was really flashy, and while I like flashy, as I said before, I also value the emotional connections between the characters a lot and wish that a greater emphasis could have been placed on them.
Things I liked:
Keith being a fearless leader
Krolia NOT dying - thank goodness for that, that was really worrying me
When Keith made his speech in EP1, and Krolia and Kolivan were smiling proudly :))
Matt (sad to see his ponytail go, but he still cayuuuute)
Lotor, all of the little Lotor scenes (AH, I JUST WANT TO ADOPT HIM AND RAISE HIM WITH LOVE) - saddened not to have seen him returned :((
The pictures at the end - happy to see everyone happy and thriving!
AND EVERYTHING ELSE NOT MENTIONED!
All in all, I think it is absolutely absurd (in the Snape voice) not to watch the season just because you heard some negative things. Don’t be as easily swayed as the Alteans were. Watch it yourself, think for yourself, and form your own opinion. Regardless of what you didn’t like, you can’t deny that this show has been a wild, beautiful ride. PEACE.
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Just curious and I don't know if you've ever answered this before- Is TW the first fandom you've ever written for, or have you written for other fandoms under different names? If you've never written for other fandoms is this the first you've been heavily into fandom for at all, or just the first you've ever been on the creating side for? And if so, what other fandoms have you ever been into?
I’ve often said that Teen Wolf is the only show that hit the sweet spot for me when it comes to fan fic: enough potential in the characters and storylines to hold my interest, and so many massive failures of storytelling in canon that it just makes me itch to fix it. So it’s true that it’s the first fandom I’ve written for, but it’s not the actual reason I got involved.
The reason I got involved (and I’m sure this wills surprise nobody who knows me) was spite, pure and simple. Back in December 2014 something happened in fandom that I’ll call the Goodreads Panic. It was basically where a shitload of fandom writers demanded Goodreads pull the listings of their fics. Now as someone who had a lot of friends who read and reviewed fanfic on Goodreads, it was upsetting to me to see them so upset. Because when a fic was removed from Goodreads (and just the listing, let’s be clear–despite the panic, I’ve never seen any proof that actual fics were uploaded there) it didn’t just remove the listing, it removed the reviews, and the pages and pages of discussions on those reviews.
My friends were upset. So I said “Fuck it, I’ll write them a Sterek.” And Balloon Animals are Awesome was born.
I wrote about it in 2014, which was before I had a tumblr account. It didn’t stop a shitload of people on tumblr from calling me entitled and wishing I was dead, of course. So, spitefully, I wrote even more fanfic.
And to this day nobody can tell me why it’s so terrible to have discussions of fanfic on Goodreads, but it’s okay to do it here or on some other platform. And funnily enough, the entire Goodreads Panic was started by a Sterek BNF who didn’t like that someone had pointed out on Goodreads that her published novel was P2P and had originally been fanfic and a lot of readers won’t buy P2P. The BNF immediately began convincing others to have their fics pulled from GR. More fool her. We just talk about her P2P books in a secret group now.
Anyway, here’s the post I wrote:
My (generally disorganised) thoughts on the current fanfiction shitfight on Goodreads
Anyone who knows me knows that I love my Sterek fanfic. For those who don’t know me but have somehow stumbled upon this post, Sterek is fanfiction based on the slash pairing of Stiles/Derek from the TV show
Teen Wolf.
I’m also quite fond of Steter, which is Stiles/Peter. And I’ve read a few Stisaacs I totally enjoyed, which is Stiles/Isaac. You guys have all spotted the common denominator right? Yeah, I just love Stiles. And who doesn’t?
But back to the shitfight.
Lately, a lot of enthusiastic readers have been adding Sterek fanfiction to the Goodreads database. This has upset some fanfiction writers. I don’t know how many, and I don’t know how representative they are of the fanfiction community.
Fair warning: I may be quite vague in this post, because I’m not going to name names, and I’m not going to link to Tumblr posts. Why? Because I’m writing this post to get my thoughts in order, not to call out anyone whose opinion may be different to my own. I welcome discussion or debate wherever you find this post, but I won’t be taking it to anyone else’s virtual doorstep.
What is Goodreads?
Initially, it seemed like some of the fanfic writers thought that their works were being uploaded to Goodreads. This is absolutely not the case. Goodreads is a catalogue, and any published work including work published online can be added by users. And, once it’s in the database, any user can review any work. That review is then shared on a timeline with the reviewer’s friends. It is also visible under the work’s main page. Users can like reviews, and comment on reviews, and reviews show up in our timelines. I found a lot of great Sterek fics because friends raved about them, and I’m not going to apologize for that.
One thing I will say about GR is that it’s not just meant for professionally published and edited works. It’s meant to be a database of, well, everything, from Shakespeare and Chaucer to web comics to fan fiction.
What was added to author profiles and book pages?
Here’s the part I’m not clear on. I understand that artwork was added as covers to fanfic that was either unattributed, or wasn’t intended for that fic. And that’s wrong, and shouldn’t have happened. A simple email to GR support or a request to a librarian would have sorted it out in minutes though.
There’s also been some talk of writers worrying about being outed, and stories of people who’ve lost jobs and custody of kids for writing “smut”. Erotica writer here, you’re preaching to the choir. But I don’t think that linking from a GR author page to an AO3 profile is suddenly going to bust the whole thing open. How could it? If any information other than that was added, then yes, that was wrong. But I’m not aware of any incidents where that happened, and I’m not sure how it
could
happen if the information wasn’t already available online anyway.
Fanfic is for fandom
You read Sterek? You recommend Sterek? You spend a lot of time at A03 leaving comments and kudos for Sterek? Surprised to find you’re not part of the fandom? So were many of us.
I’ve spoken to a lot of people in private groups who are absolutely gutted, because all the Tumblr posts going around about “fanfic is for the fandom only” make them feel like they’re not allowed to be part of the club when their only crime was to love something they read and want to share it with their friends.I can’t pretend to be an expert on the fandom culture, except to say that I’ve seen enough posts in the last few days from writers who have no problem with their works being added to the GR database to suspect that the writers acting as the gatekeepers of fandom have no mandate to do so. And, as one prolific fanfic writer put so eloquently:
Fandom is where fandom goes.
Well, here we are.
The culture clash
I understand that the fanfic community is very different than the one on GR, but most of the people reading and reviewing fanfic on GR are doing it because they love the fandom. It may be accepted practice on AO3 not to offer any criticism, constructive or otherwise, and I have some sympathy for writers who have checked out their works on GR and suddenly discovered they have star ratings.
But that’s how we do things here. That’s how we approach what we read. And as a writer, you can’t actually control how readers interact with your work. To those of us on GR, reviewing and recommending fics here is no different than doing it when we connect on Facebook or Tumblr or anywhere else online. GR is how I’ve found so many wonderful fics that I otherwise would never have read. And that is why they were added to GR – because people were so enthusiastic about them that they wanted to share them with their friends.
“Someone that reads gay fiction and goes to GR is not the same as someone from the TW fandom that reads gay sterek fic with mpreg on AO3”
That’s an actual quote from an actual Tumblr post. Google it if you want to find it. Like I said, I’m not linking. And I’ve only got one thing to say in relation to that statement anyway: Bullshit. Bull-fucking-shit.
I read gay fiction. I read and write m/m fiction (not the same as gay fiction BTW. Ironically, m/m fiction has its origins in slash). And I also read gay Sterek fic with mpreg, A/B/O, and whatever other tropes you want to throw in there. I love them all.
And so do the hundreds (possibly more, I haven’t counted) of other GR members who are part of the various fanfiction groups. But you just go on worrying that we don’t understand the tropes you’re using because apparently fanfic is a different language that we can’t possibly, you know, pick up by reading it. Like you all did.
You do not own fanfiction.
In the past few days I’ve seen a few writers claiming their “intellectual property” is being shared without their permission. And here’s where I have a real issue. Yes, you wrote your fanfic, but you don’t own it. In the case of Sterek, MTV owns those characters.
Sidenote: I also saw a particularly hilarious disclaimer on A03 that stated:
“
I do not give permission to this work being read aloud and/or shared with the press, or anyone working on said production of Teen Wolf, including but not limited to cast, crew, writers, or producers. I also do not give permission share this work on third-party websites such as Goodreads, which I believe is a resource intended for published works outside of fandom.”
I read it aloud anyway. Like the fucking rebel I am. Again though, here’s the misunderstanding of what Goodreads is. Goodreads is for any published works, and yes, that includes works published online. And yes, that includes fanfic.
I absolutely believe that fanfiction only exists because studios and copyright holders
allow
it to exist. It’s an act of goodwill, and most copyright holders recognise the fact that fanfiction, in all its forms, is good for their bottom line. I know that I’ve dropped money on the
Teen Wolf
DVDs because of Sterek, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.
I also believe though, that once fanfic writers start calling fanfiction their “intellectual property”–something I’ve seen thrown around in a few places the last couple of days–it will cause copyright holders to sit up and pay attention.
P2P
If claiming ownership will cause copyright holders to sit up and take notice, it will be P2P that might just force them to take action. In my opinion, fanfiction writers who think they own their fanfic and who pull it to publish will be more damaging to the fanfic culture that anyone reviewing and sharing recs on any platform including GR will ever be.
Interestingly, one of the most vocal of the fanfic writers is a writer who is publishing a non-fanfic book soon. This book, which will retail for around $12 on Amazon, is a former Glee fanfic that has been pulled to publish. Except last time I checked it hadn’t actually been pulled, it was still on AO3. In short, she has an issue with people sharing fanfic recommendations on Goodreads, but no issue attempting to make money off something she built using someone else’s intellectual property. And it doesn’t matter if the thing is as far removed from the original as Fifty Shades was from Twilight. In my opinion, it’s ethically wrong.
Maybe a Find & Replace of all the names is actually legally enough to get the work considered transformative. Legally and ethically aren’t always the same thing and,
personally
, I hate P2P fanfic and refuse to purchase it.
But hold on, isn’t Goodreads removing fanfics?
Yes, yes it is. Despite their own guidelines, GR has been removing fics at the request of fanfic authors. They don’t have to, but they are. Which means that all of those lengthy reviews with hundred of comments and gifs and pics are also being removed. And people are upset about that.
On GR we make friends over the reviews were share and the books we love. Those reviews and those conversations are now being deleted. Some people have lost tens of reviews, if not more. That’s a lot of hours of work, and you know why they did it in the first place? Because they loved a story and wanted to share it.
Oh, and I write fanfic too.
Yeah, I do. Just started, but it’s going to be a thing for me. Because it’s fun, and I like to share it with people, both on AO3 and here. And I know a lot of writers who do the same. AO3 and GR aren’t oil and water. They aren’t matter and anti-matter. You don’t have to pick a side, really.
You’ll find me on AO3 as Discontented Winter.
Feel free to share, recommend, or rate my fics any way or anywhere you like.
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Polor Night Rant
Because my way of showing love to Messiah is to pick clean each one of its bones until there is not even a speck of dust left to pick.
And also because I've finally watched it (yes I'm that late into the party).
Disclaimer: I'm not a movie critic. Tis a rant.
Also spoiler if you haven't watched it, but really if you still haven't watched it till now, you live under more rocks than I do.
Also warning: it’s long.
I should have never expected much from Messiah movie the moment I saw them still using that obviously fake explosion in the trailer.
First, the directing. IT SUCKS. Even more than in previous movies.
I get it, they're not filming everything in chronological order. But that's not what it's supposed to feel like! The transition is supposed to be smooth, the continuity is supposed to hold.
Biggest offender is the scene where Kuroko chased after Mamoru. Mamoru was walking while staring onto a piece of paper when suddenly Kuroko appeared behind him. Mamoru broke into a sprint, and then scene cuts to Mamoru being blocked by a no-named sakura cadet, and then cut to Kuroko already standing behind Mamoru fancily twirling and pointing his lil knife at Mamoru's throat.
Unless Kuroko teleported, which there are better ways to imply that Kuroko can move faster than the wind, it feels like the editor forgot to add a clip and just be like "Eh, the fans can just assume that Kuroko teleported, no biggie."
But it is a biggie. It takes the immersion out of the movie. It's like a speeding car suddenly break into a halt. Ain't fun yo.
And about continuity, this is a small but the easiest to point out example. On the scene where Guen was confronting Misu with the data from the flash disc he had acquired from his lil bro, Misu was chilling on the sofa with a paper in hand. Cut to scene where Misu brought the paper closer for him to read. The next scene is zoomed out, and we have Misu, still chilling on the sofa, with his hand and the paper he had just read a second ago dangling loosely from the sofa head.
This is not Harry Potter Movie 2001 where they can get away with forgetting which side of the forehead Harry's scar is supposed to be on. This is 2017.
(And let's not start on the biggest continuity error that is Misu's past)
Secondly, music. Previously for Akatsuki I praised it for the variety and frequency of background music being used. The movie, however….is dead silent 90% of the time.
"It's an information heavy movie, lots of talking so music won't be appropriate." Fine.
You're lucky if the talking scene is accompanied by some keyboard mashing sound. Enjoy dead silence as two old men talk to each other~
And when the movie does use background music…it feels very out of place. At least some of them.
I have a bone to pick with that 'holier than thou' music for the Kuroko serves Ichijima tea scene, and the music for Misu dying scene.
The former, it's veeeryyyy out of place. The church may be fancy, and it might be Ichijima's tea time (with Japanese traditional glass), but the entire situation is not. If the creator's trying to achieve cognitive dissonance, congrats, they did it.
As for the latter, it's…well, it's not a good background music. It works for the trailer, but as background, I feel that it's too strong. It's as if the music's competing with Misu-Amane in 'who can make the audience cry harder' competition. Amane wins btw.
Thirdly, GEN 3.
My god I wish this movie doesn't exist for Gen 3. All this movie does is putting each Gen 3 kids into a stereotype. And it sort of developed Mayo's character but NOT KOGURE AND YUGI.
Yugi constantly spouting catchphrases like "Who should I defeat?" is unnatural, with the one in the public bath scene being the worst example. He's a sportsman, sure, but athletes don't go around to everyone saying "Hey you, wanna judo me?" or something like that. Gangsters do that. (Plot twist le gasp)
Kogure…is…uh……a talking machine? Besides being a butt monkey which I highly approve, all he did was spouting information super rapidly. (Now I find it hilarious if he's related to Ichijima since Ichijima always takes his sweet time in delivering his lines XD). But other than that, he’s as bland as the wall.
Mayo is one of the highlights of this movie, his character providing the much-needed break from all the seriousness, and he gets his character development too! We have "Call me Mayo-sama, Mayo-tan is also fine!", him being the first to figure out Mamoru-Kaito relationship, and all his scenes with his mysterious leaf. This is good.
IF ONLY THEY DO THE SAME TO THE REST OF GEN 3
Fourth, and probably the most subjective point to argue, is acting.
Some butai actors are not meant to act in a movie. That, or the directing sucks so bad this gap shows.
What happens is that butai actors tend to exaggerate their movements which looks very unnatural in movie (OKKI), or they can't deliver information heavy scenes without looking like they're reading a script (Shinchan, also Okki). The blu-billions minions stick out like a sore thumb, hair wise and acting wise.
Yes I find Misu's dying scene hammy. Amane pulled it off nicely, but not Misu.
They probably could benefit from better directing, as in less 'all in one take' scenes. But alas, budget.
Fifth, the making.
If we talk about butai backstage, I think Tenimyu is the first to make butai backstage such a huge thing that it gets its own DVD now. And I still find it (Tenimyu 1st) to be the most enjoyable backstage to date, for a reason: it's a bunch of actors naturally having fun.
Messiah is so not a good series to have this 'fun' backstage.
The movie is shot under very short time constrain so there's not much time to chill, let alone bond. Actors repeatedly mention how Messiah's lines are heavy, which again means there's not much time to chill. With the story being very serious, acting blunders can't be passed as a joke, and the actors who have immersed themselves in this serious universe can't afford to joke around at the expense of their actings. And for this title in particular, the actors' relationship are not solid yet with half of them being new casts, so some 'bonding' moments feels forced (Okki and Shinchan has zero chemistry).
In other words, they're really better off making some kind of documentary or interview, something that showcases the depth of Messiah series or their characters, instead of trying to make a friendship/fun type of backstage.
Ok I've ranted enough about all the stuff I have issues with. Let's end this in a good note!
The good things!
1. The writing. All the callbacks to previous installments. The little things the characters get to do to show their personality (partially thanks to their actors as well).
But not the plot. I find it too cheesy of an ending.
2. Kogure being a butt monkey. Eiri's the closest thing we have to a butt monkey in the entire history of Messiah. I'm glad some comedy is coming back. Especially that lil scene where Kogure complained to Yugi about the water splashes going into his eyes. That's adorable. *fangirl continues*
3. The making. Forgot to mention this but I find that some things are better not shown in the making. Like the shooting of Misu getting washed away by torrent of CG water. Watching that breaks my suspension of disbelief. I can't rewatch it and cry the same way I rewatch Mamoru-Kaito's scene in Shibi and cry.
But other things, like Okki totally not nailing his lines, Shinchan getting 'Messiah baptism' by also screwing up his lines, Ichijima somehow nailing all his long-ass lines with no miss, Misu accidentally hitting Guen for real, Ryoki chugging what looks like a milk but is probably not, Sugie not nailing his lines after splashing Shinchan in the public bath scene, Ichijima's wtf muscles…Many good stuff XD
Aaaand that's about it. Overall I'm not that into this movie. This feels like a spin-off, that is the main series can just continue from Akatsuki and there won't be any issue besides having to justify Misu and Amane's disappearance. None of the non Misu-Amane plot here are important or something that can't be justified by Akatsuki. Okay maybe besides Mayo's character development and the whole cult deal, which can also be explained off handedly in Yuukyuu in less than 5 mins. Sure I enjoy the fanservicy moments, but that's it, fan service. They'll be completely gone by the release of the next installment.
I really wish they've ended it with Misu and Amane settling down forgoing their goal for 'world equality', something like 'you're more important than my ideals'. That'll be poignant, and very Messiah like, and saves them the budget for that cheap-ass CG water torrent.
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LMAOF - those ought to be my fave comments about TFA...
“How did you get so many likes which such an inane and asinine comment? That sentence meant nothing, and even if it had it would have only done what you think it did because it was copy-pasted from ANH. You also talk about how no one really cared about Alderaan's destruction (aka you're critical of the fact that it wasn't fleshed out) but you ignore that this wasn't fleshed out at all either. After "the Republic was destroyed" no one cared either, they immediately just went back to finding Luke and crying about Han rather than even truly mention the Republic's end. Also, it's "destruction" doesn't even make any sense. How does the largest, (nearly) completely galactic government get destroyed just because it's capital planet was blown up? It wasn't even like a centralized capital planet, they voted on which one they wanted to be the capital all the time so it's not even like that system was really important. Every planet would have representatives to replace deceased senators and were supposed to believe this one act destroyed the whole government? Also, how was their entire fleet destroyed? I don't care if the New Republic limited their Navy there is no way they actually stationed 90% of their fleet in one system... Also, there's the whole fact that StarKiller Base lacks any creativity and is stupid, and the fact that it makes no sense the laser would break up into pieces, and the fact it makes no sense that that many habitable planets were that close to each other without being uninhabitable at best, and the fact it makes little sense everyone could see its destruction that well. Sorry for being pissy with you, but the new trilogy is utter garbage is makes my brain not feel like it has increased intracranial pressure if people realize that. P.S. The concept is dark but the execution was not one of the darkest scenes, it was fucking hilarious because of the distractingly blatant Nazi similarities that they pushed so hard and for all the reasons I gave before. Good day, sir. Lmao“
“Assuming the New Order has the resources to build such a weapon - which throws any reasonable assumption of balance out the window between them and La Resistance, if they were so superior in resources certainly they shouldn't have been fought to a stalemate. Furthermore, if we get past all that silliness the New Order loses this weapon in Episode VII along with whatever personnel and materiel were on Starkiller Base at the time of its destruction. Certainly, the loss of such a weapon and resources, already ridiculous in scale, would cripple them going forward, but we all know it won't. The Empire was the continuation of a Galactic Republic which had been building its weapons and forces with no real competition for three decades. The New Order is the remnants of a pack of dudes who were beaten - or at least tied - by a New Republic that has fewer weapons and resources than the old Rebellion. It requires a dozen excuses by see-no-evil fanboys to be even nominally feasible and EVEN PAST THAT it's still a lazy creative idea.“
“Maybe JJ Abrams sat down with his creative team and decided that fans need a third Death Star which can be blown up again, so as to invoke a feeling of nostalgy, which is good for ticket sales, and fans are now creating numerous theories as to how to place this enormous piece of bullshit in the SW universe. Basically, if Abrams had decided to come up with a giant piece of poo as the new superweapon of the new empire, fans would've created a backstory for it the next day, uploading it to the Wookiepedia and youtube as well. There goes your canon. You can come up with a backstory for everything. 'Snoke'! 'Kylo Ren'! 'First Order'! Of course, the SW universe can be expanded as we like, but I hate it, when the creators abuse this right and give us poorly devised, stupid and cheap random stuff that will sell very well among children. The original story deserves so much more than this. Take a look at Yoda (the original one), how much effort they put into his uniquely peculiar personality and his wisdom. And the jungle planet he lives on. Or Cloud City. Or Han's and Leia's relationship as it developed before our eyes. Or the conflict btw Luke and Vader. Or Vader's suit. Everything was original, everything was carefully designed, everything had enthusiasm behind it. I don't feel any of that with the new episode. They just copied everything from the old trilogy, giving everything and everyone a cool-sounding new name, and that's it. I only felt a bit of redemption when I saw Rogue One. That movie again dared do something new and use a lot of creativity.“
“Rogue one, although not even needed since it plays during the old triologies time period, featured a way greater diversity of new and starships in general than Episode 7 which plays aproximitly 30 years in the future. As far as i remember Episode displays 5 different Starships: "The Falcon" "X-Wings" "Tie Fighter" "Star Destroyer" "Kylo Rens Drop Ship", well reagrding the fact that 4 out of 5 featured ships were part of the old Triology that is absolutly sad and is one thing that shows up the uncreativity which spreads throughout the film. That movie is supposed to play 30 years after Return of the Jedi, yeah cool story does look like the Galaxy just went on a quick nap to skip those years. Leia Organa a politican is the "General"(wtf) of a Resistance consisting of a dozen X-wing(wtf) and which appears to be hunting the First Order. Main tactic could be to destroy the shield generator of star destroyers and smack 1 or two X-wings right into the Brigde to disable them or something like that, pretty effective fighting style isnt it?... wait, huh well something seems to be wrong... list goes on btw Swamp planet, X-Wing support arrives shoots down 10+X Tie Fighters, dont scratch the main targets Drop Ship which is parked stationary at the ground. Damn those undisciplined "Rebel" Pilots, they rather want to show off their skills than to follow their mission objectiv. No wonder Ren got away, the resistance seems to really be a massive threat to the First order which reasons the destruction of multiple planets for that the New republic will stop supporting the Resistance with... wait with what actually ? 1 X-wing per year ? Well i dont think the Resistance even has 30 X-wings, i guess its only political support then, well and of course the First order cant allow that ! Good Idea to blow up planets worth i dont know massive amounts of credits in infrastructure whithout negotiations btw, really good plan tbh. This movie simply consists of made up uncreative shit.“
And finally:
“A new hope's plot hole of the Death Star exhaust port suddenly became the most clever plot in all of Star Wars while diminishing TFA to a child's tale.“
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