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horang-07 · 6 months

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FNAF SPOILERS! SCROLL! TALKING ABOUT THE SPRINGLOCK SCENE!

i’ve seen so many people discussing the springlock scene in both negative and positive ways and i think it brings up really cool points about how matthew played that scene and balanced fan expectations with his own characterisation.

i think the discussions around this movie have rlly exposed the disconnect between fanon and canon in fnaf, especially talking abt the core games in isolation, bc frankly in the game universe (ignoring the books) we get Very Little characterisation for William other than the obvious, but Matthew managed to add so much in the way he talks and his body language.

in the reveal scene, we see afton at arguably his peak. in his first scene, he comes off as somewhat demeaning and judgemental until he recognises mike’s name, at which point he seems to have this nervous energy, rushing to cover it up but stumbling slightly, his reaction to the tables being turned even slightly is massive.

this is a man who committed multiple mrdrs in essentially broad daylight, hid the bodies in the most obvious place, and still got away with it, and then kept the crime scene as a trophy of his actions, and an ongoing prison sentence for his victims. he has been in complete control for decades, and is confident that he can deal with any kind of threat quickly. his confidence in his reveal is palpable

it changes when vanessa shoots him. the whole parallel with vanessa and the animatronics is hugely interesting too- how william refers to the animatronics almost endearingly as “kids” when he wants them to obey, how both vanny and the animatronics have an unearned loyalty to him, almost a pseudo-adoption through what he did to them, taking them from their parents and keeping them under his thumb, forever stuck as naive, forgiving, obedient children. vanessa breaking from that control shakes him, but the mask slips back into place almost immediately.

then, he’s outsmarted by the brother of one of his victims, and the child he planned to end next. his pseudo-children turn on him and he can no longer manipulate his appearance or shed his skin to escape. he explodes on them, and his language is incredibly telling that he is being dishonest.

he calls them small, trying to belittle them into submission, even though they are ten feet tall metal animatronics powered by rage. he is grasping at straws to regain control, and failing miserably.

finally, the springlocks go off. the locks in the movie look more like a ribcage, so the first two likely puncture his lungs. they’re slow, and painful, but he doesn’t scream or beg or sob. he grunts and groans, gritting his teeth and only letting out sounds of pain that sound almost involuntary. there is no way in hell he would visibly let himself show weakness or pain in front of these creatures that he believes he has control over. he isn’t brought to his knees until there are eight metal spikes embedded in his abdomen. he doesn’t let the mask fall for even a second, until he literally PUTS THE ACTUAL MASK ON and finally collapses. even then, he’s fighting for consciousness, twitching and writhing with no control over his body. william afton thrives on control, and his soul will not rest until he gets it back.

it’s why he keeps the pizzeria- he always comes back. he can’t help but return to the scene of the crime, putting on his old costume, continuing his killings. he revels in being a constant threat on the horizon. and now, he knows he is going to die, and he knows the suit will bring him back, and noone will be able to get rid of him then. so he puts the mask back on, and waits.

in terms of the sfx- they’re pretty accurate. with stab wounds, you need to leave the knife in the wound as long as possible for best chance of survival, as it stops the blood from escaping. in terms of the springlocks, there wouldn’t be copious amounts of blood as the locks are keeping the wounds filled- which is good because it means a slower, more painful death.

#fnaf #fnaf movie #eden rambles #william afton #matthew lillard #springtrap #five nights at freddy's #fnaf spoilers #idk i thought it was a great scene #ppl just need to manage their expectations of what fnaf 1 Actually Is in isolation #not the years of other media and fandom and lore and theory #we literally saw him get springlocked one time in 8 bit with no audio and four frames. how is this worse in comparison #wanna make another post talking abt how the film explores images vs the reality when you look deeper #specifically abby and her drawings/the drawings at freddys vs mike’s motivation being based on the images he sees in his dreams #and how it’s so perfect for fnaf 1 being a game almost entirely made of just scary images without actually exploring the reality #that these robots are Children and Scared and Lost #tldr the fort scene was necessary

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blackwolfstabs · 5 months

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30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 25

MOVIE

The Core Four + more go to see the FNAF movie.

Chad added Mindy to the group.

Chad added Tara to the group.

Chad added Sam to the group.

Chad added Danny to the group.

Chad added Kirby to the group.

Chad added Gale to the group.

Chad named the group chat “🐻🐰 FNAF 🦊🐤”.

Chad: Made this bc we can’t talk during the movie. I’m gonna start by saying that kid showed all signs of being kidnapped tf? Mike shouldn’t have been fired for that 😑

Tara: actually u made it bc Mindy told us to “shut the fuck up” lol

Tara: but fr fr

Mindy: ARE YOU SERIOUS?? You made a chat…

Chad: Yup

Gale: This defeats the whole purpose of watching the movie.

Sam: And phones aren’t allowed in the theater.

Tara: oh really?? Kirby r u gonna arrest us for texting in the movie theater???

Chad: I’m not gonna be able to stay quiet. I have thoughts and I must speak them.

Chad: Somebody quote that

Danny: Quoted.

Kirby: No, I’m not but I might mute the chat fr

Chad: Thank you Danny 🫡

Gale: Seriously. How are you all going to text and watch at the same time?

Sam: Bet it’s just going to turn into Chad and Tara texting “wait what just happened” after ever moment the music gets loud and they were too busy looking at their phones

Chad: Joke’s on YOU Sam cuz you’ll be missing the movie trying to tell us what happened lmfao

Tara: yeah and that’s literally ur boyfriend all the time. Danny’s clueless 24/7. #sendhelp4danny

Kirby: Just watch the damn movie!

Danny: replied to “yeah and that’s literally ur boyfriend all the time. Danny’s clueless 24/7. #sendhelp4danny”: What was just said on screen?

Tara: . . . . .

Sam: That’s what I thought. #sendhelp4Tarabcshesclueless in the chat

Danny: emphasized “That’s what I thought. #sendhelp4Tarabcshesclueless in the chat”

Danny: #sendhelp4Tarabcshesclueless

Kirby: #sendhelp4Tarabcshesclueless

Gale: #sendhelp4Tarabcshesclueless

Chad: #sendhelp4sam&dannybctheyareannoying&interruptingthemovie

Sam: 🖕

Tara: PFFT

Mindy: HOLY FUCKING SHIT AKJBDFLADSGFLWKSKLBFLA EVERYBODY SHUT UP STEVE RAGLAND LOOKS JUST LIKE STU MACHER HOLY FUCK

Gale: No fucking way…

Kirby: OMFG YES FUCKING WAY

Sam: I’m uncomfortable

Chad: God Mindy you’re such a nerd

Tara: she’s not wrong tho fuck. . . 🫢

Danny: Who?

Mindy: STU MACHER THE ONE WHO WAS KILLED BY THE TV IN THE OG STAB!!! HE WAS THE OTHER GHOSTFACE ALONGSIDE BILLY LOOMIS

Tara: see??? i told u. buddy’s cLuElEsS xD

Sam: Tara, will you stop?

Danny: Oh okay.

Tara: no

Gale: Wait, isn't there that conspiracy that he didn’t die and is still alive?

Chad: So what, he became an actor and is in FNAF?? 😂

Tara: could be a doppelganger?? i’m convinced we all have one running around the world somewhere lol

Mindy: Uhhhhh YEAH OBVIOUSLY

Gale: It’s not Stu Macher, Mindy.

Mindy: But what if it is?

Tara: sPoOkY 👻

Kirby: Does anyone want any popcorn? I can pass it down

Tara: yes pls

Tara: ok 🛑‼️KAREN ALERT‼️🛑 this aunt jane lady is a full-blooded KAREN fr

Danny: 👆

Chad: Karen facts

Sam: True that

Mindy: Yeah it’s her first scene and she’s already annoying the shit out of me

Tara: gEt hEr oUtTa hErE

Tara: why can i see that being Gale tho?? PFFT

Kirby: LMFAO I see it 🙋🏼‍♀️

Sam: Soooo ur saying Gale’s a Karen????

Tara: yes

Kirby: I can’t unsee it

Chad: Bahahaha!

Mindy: Don’t even get me started on the parallels 😆

Gale: Oh please, I’m not THAT much of a bitch.

Tara: yeah ok suuurree

Kirby: You literally radiate Bitch-Karen energy idgaf I’ll be the bigger person to say it

Chad: GET WRECKED

Gale: replied to “You literally radiate bitch-karen energy idgaf I’ll be the bigger person to say it”: I hate you. 🖕

Danny: If Gale is Aunt Jane, then Kirby is Vanessa because she’s a cop.

Gale: Tara is Abby. HA! There.

Danny: Because she’s an annoying little sister?

Sam: o.O

Gale: Precisely.

Tara: no. no fucking way. that’s NOT me AT ALL

Kirby: I’m processing this information

Mindy: Lmfao YES and Sam’s Mike 😂😂😂

Tara: replied to “Because she’s an annoying little sister?”: shut up Danny, nobody asked you. just do what you’re good at and look like ur paying attention 😤🖕

Mindy: Stubborn, immature, feisty… it definitely sounds like you Tara.

Chad: and Mike is quiet, traumatized, and has family issues. That’s Sam.

Chad: Ok fine it’s canon, sorry babe 🫡

Danny: emphasized “Stubborn, immature, feisty… it sure sounds like you Tara.”

Danny: emphasized “and Mike is quiet, traumatized, and has family issues. That’s Sam.”

Gale: At first I was just throwing a thought out there, but now that you mention it, they’re pretty good analogies for the Carpenters.

Kirby: Ditto

Kirby: Guess we’re FNAF characters in another universe 😂

Sam: Their relationship isn’t anything like ours tho

Chad: Sure, it is!

Danny: Mike and Abby love each other a lot, but they fight every other day, if not every day. You and Tara do that. They have absent parents. You two do too. Mike is constantly holding down a job to support him and Abby. Sam, you do that. Abby does what she wants, regardless of what Mike says. Tara does the same thing. Sounds pretty accurate to me

Mindy: I respect the resemblance 🫡

Kirby: Whoa— 🤯

Gale: See? I know what I’m talking about, Tara. 😉

Tara: no. . . that’s 1000000% INACCURATE

Sam: Ok maybe it’s a little similar, but still…

Chad: Round of applause for Danny! Guess he’s not so clueless after all 👏👏

Gale: 👏👏👏

Mindy: Kudos Danny kudos 👏👏👏👏

Kirby: 👏

Sam: Kudos

Tara: NO. fuck ur applauding. you guys don’t know me at all smh

Mindy: Hey T, wanna draw a picture for your friends at Freddy Fazbear’s??

Mindy: Sam, you’ll let her, right? They’re just innocent animatronics that wanna play with your sister 😁

Tara: GODDAMMIT I AM NOT ABBY!!!!

Sam: I’m not sure how to respond to that 🙃

Gale: Everyone in favor of Tara = Abby, say “aye”

Mindy: Aye 🙋🏽‍♀️

Chad: Aye-aye, dare I say (love you Tara 😘)

Kirby: Aye

Danny: Aye 🫡

Mindy: replied to “I’m not sure how to respond to that 🙃”: Just say aye

Tara: Sam don’t you dare

Sam: I’m not. I still don’t think they’re us…

Kirby: You two are no fun

Gale: It’s all fun and games until the games turn against them.

Sam: The fun was supposed to be watching the movie!

Danny: Alright, I’m out

Chad: Same

Tara: yeah everybody shut up so we can watch k thx bye

Mindy: Lol victory is sweet

Sam: emphasized “Alright, I’m out”

Kirby: 👌

Gale: replied to “Lol victory is sweet”: It sure is.

this one's for you @dreamersbcll - i hope you're doing a little better but if not, i hope reading this stupid little text chat will make u smile 🩶

All my best ♡ - parker

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repressedgaymer · 6 months

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SPOILERS FOR THE FNAF MOVIE AND JUST GENERAL RAMBLINGS ABOUT THE MOVIE

okay so i Just got back from my showing. and i just gotta say it was absolutely amazing. i didn't have High expectations. i just wanted to have a bit of lore and some fun times with freddy fazbear but i got more than what i was hoping for!!!!!

things i LOVED:

- the beginning 8-bit scene ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ really reminded me of the foxy mini game (which i'm sure was intentional) but it set the tone of the movie for me... it was first and foremost about the children william afton murdered

- the balloon boy gag 😂😂😂😂 it got me literally everytime

- while i was Disappointed that michael wasn't an afton, i liked the side story of his brother being his connection to william. a little iffy about the weird ass custody battle but hey 🤷‍♀️ it moved the plot along and it was funny to see them get murdered

-THE GHOST CHILDREN ❤️❤️❤️💔💔💔💔😭😭😭😭 they made me. so sad at times. because at their core they are truly just fucking kids

- that's also why i LOVED the fort scene. it was silly and fun! and showed that the kids are NOT monsters but rather we're being controlled by william. and above all we're Just Kids. :(

-SURPRISED BY VANESSA BEING WILLIAMS DAUGHTER and horrified by the implication that he probably forced her to watch him torture those kids.

- speaking of fucking afton. MATTHEW LILLARD CARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't think anyone else could've brought the same energy that he needed to have

- him coming out in the golden bonnie suit???????????!!!!!!!!! yeah i literally wanted to shit my pants the way he moved, the way he kicked mike, the just general menacing aura when he came out of the shadows.

-that ending. WOOF. i always come back motherfucker.

i... Really loved it. the practical effects. the care that was put into the movie. the adherence to the lore. it was such a SOLID movie, and i'm Really happy with it :> it's everything i wanted like five years ago ❤️

#i love fnaf #genuinely lore wise it's like chefs kiss to me #beyond like the Banana bonkers stuff #fnaf #fnaf movie

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elodiethescribe · 6 months

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What I expected from the FNAF movie, based off the trailers as well as what patchwork information I know from the games, in no particular order:

(Spoilers ahead, beware!)

At least one scene recreating the first FNAF's gameplay and atmosphere, with Mike in the office watching the cameras and managing the security doors and power while the animatronics recreate their various game poses on the cameras

Vanessa turning out to secretly be the bad guy, or at least have her evil alter ego Vanny pop up

Freddy's Toreador March

Foxy's hallway run

The animatronics to the be able to move quickly and smoothly, much as they do in the games

Matthew Lillard being a fantastic Springtrap, with a lot of suspense building up to his appearance and a brutal, bloody springlock scene

For either the animatronics to terrorize Abby, or for her to befriend them in secret without Mike's knowledge

Onscreen ghost children meaning we actually get to know the kids and their personalities and even their names

For the film to either take itself completely seriously given the horror and tragedy of the game's core concept and its bleak, tense atmosphere, or for the film to pull a M3GAN and go the self-aware dark horror comedy route, leaning fully into the more campy aspect of its concept while still delivering fun scares and an attempt at a genuinely meaningful message

A Markiplier cameo, or at least a nod to "the king of Five Nights at Freddy's"

What I got instead:

Little to no recreation of the original FNAF's gameplay and atmosphere; only the opening scene, the break-in sequence, and the climax really end up "feeling" like FNAF to me, but only in vague bits and pieces

Vanessa actually being a good guy with a surprisingly sympathetic and compelling storyline, even as she suffers from bad writing such as refusing to communicate properly with Mike or still inexplicably going along with Afton's murders despite her obvious horror

Literally no Toreador March despite it being blasted all over the trailers

Foxy inexplicably teleporting down the hallway

Foxy also being the absolutely most gosh-darn adorable of the animatronics

The animatronics portrayed as stiff, slow, heavy, and downright awkward, which makes one wonder how they are fast or sneaky enough to catch and kill nightguards

Matthew Lillard being a fantastic Springtrap, who literally just pops up out of nowhere during the climax with minimal build up, and a rather tame and underwhelming springlock sequence compared to FNAF 3, but my goodness Lillard just straights up eats this role alive and is easily the best part of the film

Mike not only just straight up immediately catching Abby befriending the animatronics, with little to no fanfare from the narrative, but also having a bizarre underreaction to the whole thing, like the very next day he only mildly uncomfortably asks Abby to talk to the giant animatronics possessed by dead kids about their missing brother, as if that's in any way shape or form an actually normal conversation to have

The ghost children/animatronics' story, and the sheer horror and tragedy of it, being shoved aside in favor of Mike's obsession with finding out who abducted his brother, all taking place in boring and repetitive dream sequences in a random forest; except for the Golden Freddy child, none of the other children even speak; Mike talking to the ghost kids and getting to know them, even connecting with them over the loss of his brother (who was even taken by Afton just like them!) could have been a genuinely intriguing and emotional plot, but the narrative doesn't seem to care about the children/animatronics as characters and Mike, for some bizarre reason, doesn't even seem effected by the kids being taken just like Garrett, even when he learns they were all taken by the same man, and it all just ends up feeling completely pointless and tacked on by the film ends

(And I say all this as someone who strongly prefers the fanfic-y "sentient animatronics" over the canon "possessed animatronics")

Finally, a minimal, underwhelming plot with a tone and structure that veered all over the place, letting me feel the sweet, nostalgic feeling of reading a fanfiction written by a teenager who doesn't understand how the real, adult world works: like, why are the goons attacking during the day, the exact time when Mike wouldn't be held accountable since he's off-duty? Why isn't Mike in jail after beating up that dad at his old job? What in the world happened with Aunt Jane's body? Did no one wonder where the heck Max went? Why did Vanessa help Abby and the animatronics build that fort and then immediately threaten to shoot Mike for letting Abby befriend the animatronics? Why does Afton do literally anything he does, especially with the big change-up to the Afton family dynamic? Why does literally no one actually REACT to the fact that the animatronics are possessed and that Abby and Mike can talk to dead people?!

No Markiplier :(

Surprisingly good soundtrack

#five nights at freddy's #fnaf #five nights at freddy's movie #fnaf movie

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sputnikissweet · 3 years

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Thoughts on “Fate: The Winx Club Saga”

My last Winx related post got good feedback :)!! and i swear i’ll post more on other stuff but there are just some things i wanna get off my chest. this is also lengthy.. oops

also gifs aren’t mine!!!

let’s start off with characters

MUSA

Netflix, do y’all just hate Musa... Her powers are so downplayed. it’s utterly disappointing.

I understand that Musa is the emotional girl out of all of them but they took that and ran with it. I’m just not a big fan of the whole mind fairy thing because every fairy can connect to things that’s based on what kind of fairy they are.

she can do SO MUCH MORE. She can literally control sound waves.. She is Vanya Hargreeves in fairy form yet all she does now is feel others emotions.. cool.

Fairies (regardless of specialties) can also read aura’s and some can connect with their given specialities (Flora w plants) so a mind fairy serves no helpful purpose compared to the others?

STELLA

The reason Stella was popular was because despite being a spoiled princess, she was still the nicest and most welcoming person ever. She never used it against people. ( I mean the Solarians were literally so confused when they were reporting how Stella was evil during Valtor’s reign)

It felt more like Diaspro with Stella trendencies.

Stella was literally the one who convinced Bloom to go to Alfea and was so patient with her. She even had Bloom fake being her friend in the original just so she could attend alfea but this stella willingly put her life in danger.. FOR A BOY???

Yes Stella was a bit boy crazy but she wasn’t really serious with any of them except for Brandon so she would not have tried to kill Bloom for Sky. Who wrote that and for what??

That is not Queen Luna, that’s countess Cassandra 2 seasons early.

Why did they have to give her mom issues like Bloom? Her mom was her emotional support from the little bits we saw her? Her parents not giving her attention on top of upcoming issues with her dad would’ve been interesting enough.

Also the whole ring thing was a major thing and they just touched on it then never again, just don’t mention it then..?

A bit morbid but i think the whole blinding her best friend plot has potential.. hear me out... for her enchantix, especially when she can use the dust. But netflix if you include enchantix, please do not butcher it.. please.

She had such a sunny disposition and it was only ever her teasing that upset the girls at times but she was mostly at the core of each other their problems. She may look exactly how i pictured stella but she is the farthest thing from.

also stella getting her strength from anger? who is this?

AISHA

Please tell me how Aisha would be the teacher’s pet-

She’s the one who literally ran away from a marriage and was breaking all these princess streotypes- She’s very strong willed and would not have kissed ass to authority figures (except for mermaid guards of course)

AISHA WOULD NOT HAVE SNITCHED AND THAT GOES FOR ALL OF THEM I DO NOT CARE

her outfits weren’t bad though, i think she was the best dressed next to Beatrix.

TERRA

Why were they so rude to her-

I still wish she was a WOC because then her brother and dad would’ve been too so just a chance for more representation then netflix just turned a blind eye to

Where did her storyline go- We saw her being insecure in the first two(?) episodes and Musa saying Stella is everything she wants to be and then Riven and Dane just make fun of her for the rest of the episodes then Stella tries to compliment her? I feel like there was so much material to work with and make into a powerful arc or moment but they just swept it under the rug and pulled off something quick.

I like her character though, she’s a huge softie and a lot like her cousin, let’s not hate on her oo much cause Flora would not have condone it

BLOOM

Why is this Bloom so angsty

Actually OG Bloom was too but i feel like they tried making her so seem “mysterious” and if you’re mysterious, apparently you can’t be nicer?

I wish we saw her more vulnerable cause i liked that Bloom was such a badass but always cried HAHAH you know what i mean?

WHY WAS SHE DRESSED IN HER REGULAR CLOTHES WHEN HER WINGS APPEARED PLEASE AT LEAST GIVE HER SMT A BIT MORE FITTING FOR THE LITERAL “ANCIENT” TRANSFORMATION-

Disrespect Vanessa- No.

Okay i think there’s potential in the changeling thing but i think Mike originally finding her in a burning house and saving her is so heartwarming :((

this is related to bloom so i’ll keep it here... WHERE IS DAPHNE!!!

not gonna lie tho, the actress is exactly how i imagined bloom irl

bloomerang... i’ll leave this here.

OTHER CHARACTERS // MISC.

Rosalind and Dowling were two evil and eviler versions of Faragonda. Not even they were just split Albus Dumbledores and one is enough for all universes.

Beatrix is woke ig..? I like her style tho and the actress is pretty good. Also like how by the finale it’s kind of known that she’s a witch and not a fairy so ancestral witches storyline? I’m also not mad they made her one character, it fit better for the story they were going for.

BRING BACK CLOUD TOWER!! NOT ALL WITCHES ARE BITCHES (mainly mirta)

I know Riven is an ass but it was d r a g g e d. Like let’s lead this guy on! Oh and do drugs on campus! I’m 16 btw but let’s get drunk every other scene! Not to shame though.

I just don’t like Sam, he was boring to me and contributed nothing. sorry

Dane had potential to be a great self discovery story but no let’s make him fat shame Terra because that’ll be cute! no.

It’s just weird to think that Sky’s father abandoned him to raise a completely different child.. I don’t- yeah..

Kiko is- oh wait he wasn’t there.

Why are they on instagram? If anything, they would’ve probably had something wayyy more advanced.

Adding more fire fairies just lessened the stakes of Bloom’s whole reasoning for trying to master the powers of the dragon flame because she was the only one left so she had no choice but Fate makes it easier to argue that she was just being selfish when in WC, it had to be done.

I do like male fairies and female specialist, power! but i wish they kept the schools separate.

I know everyone says this but.. their outfits could’ve given us another Euphoria like moment and they wasted that opportunity. I mean seriously, you put Bloom in Brandy Melville?

SHIPS

I wish SkyxBloom was more slow burn and had more build up. It was reasonable but idk the pace still seemed a bit fast.

There should be no world where SkyxBloomxStella would exist. Not in this or any other worlds.

MusaxSam was just boring.

TerraxDane just no.

wheres nabu for aisha? actually, respectfully do not let the same people cast Nabu and Helia because i just don’t trust y’all-

RivenxBeatrix, eh follows the og plot but i wasn’t really a fan of it back then too.

RivenxDane, seems queerbaity? maybe it was intentionally set up that way for development but it rubs me off wrong.

#fate the winx saga #winx club #winx club aisha #winx club bloom #winx club stella #winx club musa #winx club flora #winx netflix #winx layla #winx #specialist #alfea #winx alfea #winx faragonda #winx sky

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irandomblogfulb · 3 years

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FATE: What happens when you get a bunch of middle aged white guys to adapt a cartoon for girls

Well, I just went through 6 hours of fate and I have a lot of opinions on it. Yeah, this is going to be long (slightly under 3k words) so putting it under read more and obvious spoilers.

PSA before delving right in:

1) Yes, I will be comparing to the original. Any comparisons are not through rose-tinted nostalgia glasses. There are parts here and there that I genuinely think were done better in the cartoon on a writing standpoint.

2) This is purely my opinion and overall negative. Don't like it? Don't read. I'm all up for discussion but I don't want another person crying to me about how I “ruined” their experience of the show.

3) If you like Fate then good for you. This isn’t me bashing people who like it.

I've spit it up into sub sections just for my own convince.

1. The problem with the 'I'm not like other girls' trope

This pertains to the entire Bloom-Sky-Stella love triangle. I wasn't as pressed about it compared to other winxers (and I loved Stella's and Brandon's relationship on my rewatch). In fact, I was okay with it. But then I sat down and watched the show and there's a lot of underlying problems with the love triangle. Particularly pitting Bloom and Stella against each other for Sky's affection.

Now this part of the love triangle I already didn't like. Correct me if I'm wrong, since I dropped the OG Winx after season 5 but the Winx while they did have their conflicts and arguments, never fought over a boy. I really appreciated that from the cartoon so seeing that live action would fall into that trap – I was mildly annoyed at that. Then it hit me. It's Bloom and Stella.

The seemingly ordinary girl vs the pristine princess of Solaria. If the title didn't give it away, you should get the point by now. Others have already called it by now but the "I'm not like other girl's" trope in itself, while seemingly feminist is actually misogynist. Saying the more masculine type of girl is better than the feminine is inherently misogynist. Stella, the prime princess, girly and feminine, is villainized by the love triangle. Sky's and Stella's relationship is toxic and Stella's overt co-dependence and jealousy are already big fat red signs - but Sky's and Bloom's relationship is built on how she's "different". Bloom isn't like Stella, she's "real".

2. Am I supposed to like Riven?

As the title puts it, wtf am I supposed to feel about Riven. Is he supposed to be a good guy? Do I root for him? Is he morally ambiguous? Because holy shit compared to OG!Riven, this guy is diabolical and much much worse! OG!Riven is an asshole and he teams up with the trix but his arc was very simple and easy to understand. He joins the bad guys, distances himself from the good guys, the trix betray his ass, he self-reflects in the dungeon - escapes and redeems himself. Net!Riven is so bad to the point where you can't redeem him and the writers don't even try. Freddie Thorp is good in his role. (however, he definitely doesn't pass for a 17-year-old. He's 26 and it shows) and he actually makes the cringe dialogue work. But he's way too diabolical and downright predatory. The scene where he forces Dane to gulp down his spiked drink - it’s worse seeing it than reading it. That grossed me out more than the gore.

What makes it worse, nobody properly calls him out. Beatrix kinda does on his homophobia – “Homophobic bashing by GIF” - and Sky does chastise him, but they still tolerate him. It is kinda funny in a way Sky has a whole ass arc about how he's enabling Stella's problematic behaviour by still dating her after she blinded her friend but doesn't realize he's doing the same for Riven.

The only person that really puts her foot down with Riven is Terra and nobody takes her seriously about anything she says.

Everyone is very laissez-faire around him and that's not how you respond to your friend being problematic. (Hey, kinda like the other girls sans Aisha are with Bloom!) Everyone surrounding Riven is so disgusting and the notion of him supposedly being a good guy is very hard to buy into. His whole relationship with Dane has a section of it’s own because there’s just a lot to unpack.

3. Stella I am so sorry

I'm also in the majority hating how they've tarnished Stella. Basically, they turned her into the stereotypical rich bully with mommy issues.

I get that Stella has an abusive mom but that’s no excuse to be a total bitch to her roommates. And no, her roommates shouldn't accept her back with open arms. And she doesn't even redeem herself - the girls just accept her back after her mom pulls her from Alfea.

And this is also another issue with the writing were the characters suddenly just change their opinions on a whim. Suddenly Stella likes the winx, suddenly Terra misses Stella even though having that girl literally gives her anxiety. Suddenly Aisha's on Bloom's side in the end.

This isn't me simping for the cartoon out of nostalgia. I was mostly okay with the idea of Stella and Sky hooking up. But Looking at it from a creative standpoint - looking at the source material, and the many paths you can take this character, the best thing Brian Young and co. can think of for her was turning her into the stereotypical rich bully that we've seen time and time again? No deconstruction no meta take, it's played out exactly how you’d expect it.

Again, this isn't me simping for the show. Purely from a creative standpoint Stella was such a major let down. There's so much to the character and Brian Young took the easiest, saturated path.

4. That one scene with Bloom's parents

You know the one. Mike unhinges Bloom's bedroom doors and Vanessa cusses out and insults her child like a petty teen bully. Forgetting how utterly cringey that scene was, you can't have her mom go batshit insane on her child, then act like she's this loving parent that cares so deeply about her daughter. Screw that! Vanessa deserved those 3rd degree burns! She invaded her daughter's privacy. Bloom didn't even do anything wrong!

I can't buy into this narrative of Vanessa and Mike being loving parents when they do something like that. Seriously who thought that was okay?

5. Pity Parties for everyone.

I already discussed this in Stella’s section but I don’t like the “it’s okay for me be a shitty person because my life sucks :)” narrative Fate tries to pull. They did it with Stella, Bloom, Riven.

What I liked about the first season of Winx Club is Bloom’s arc and her character as a whole. Because while she went through shit, from the Trix, to finding out she was adopted, her existential crisis, not feeling like she belonged, losing the dragon flame, she went through a lot. She didn’t throw a pity party. She didn’t whine, bitch and complain. She allowed herself to feel upset, took it as it is and tried to make lemonade out of lemons. And I respect that.

Net!Bloom is agrevating. She does some dumb, reckless stuff but it’s excused because she’s the protagonist? She let the war criminal out, the school gets taken over by the bad guys because of Bloom. Faragonda fucking dies because she let the war criminal out! The burned ones attacked the school because she let the war criminal out!!! But no, Aisha’s villainized for calling Bloom out because Bloom’s existential crisis is more important then anything else.

Getting to Sky, he isn’t as bad as the others. He doesn’t become a shitty person because of his problems. (Though lowkey flirting with Bloom while he hooks up with Stella is uh not good.) But he does come across incredibly whiny. Because of the cringey dialogue and the unnecessary swearing I can’t take his speech on opening up to Bloom seriously. I laughed throughout the whole thing and Bloom leaving his unconscious body there was the icing on the cake.

One of the few characters that deserved a pity party is Terra. She’s very much like OG!Bloom in a way. She is bullied by Dane and Riven, has body insecurities, anxiety, nobody listens to her and at most only tolerates her. Despite all the crap that is thrown her way she still reminds humble, kind, and respectful. And she is one of the few characters that deserves more support than what she got out of the season.

5. Bloom, Aisha, Tokenism and their awful relationship

I’m going to be upfront, their relationship sucks. The core of their dynamic is what Aisha can do for Bloom. It’s very one-sided. Bloom only goes to Aisha to help solve her problems, which Aisha gladly does – but when Aisha disagrees with Bloom or says something Bloom doesn’t like, Bloom suddenly goes off and Aisha’s made to be the bad guy. Even though she’s right? And Aisha has her own problems as well, shown to also struggle with her powers. But nope, that’s pushed to the back burner because Bloom needs help.

I am all for creative freedom. I can stomach Stella x actual Sky. I can stomach turning Stella into a rich mean girl. I can stomach the dark academia aesthetic but what Brian Young and co. did to Aisha is just plain racist. Screw the “it’s an adaptation” excuse. Turning this character who had a rich storyline and was a princess into a white girl’s magical negro who fixes all her problems is racist and by definition tokenism. And by whitewashing the other two characters of color, making Aisha the only poc in the group – that’s the worst thing you can do to her.

And frankly we need more black princesses on screen.

6. Dane and the homophobia of the show

Towards the show’s climax it’s revealed Dane is helping Beatrix because she accepts he’s “different”. Not only does this go back to my pity party rant but like bruh,

1) Beatrix never really did anything for Dane? She hung out and smoked with him a bit, but that’s all. You’re telling me Terra wouldn’t accept Dane? Beatrix never helped him and he never really opened up to her about his struggles.

2) Nobody else, not even background characters bully or harass Dane for being “different”. It’s only Riven, the guy he’s crushing on. The whole falling in love with the bad boy/abuser trope is bad in a hetero relationship and that still stands for a gay one. And I know damn well if Dane was a woman half of the shit Riven did to Dane wouldn’t slide.

It makes no sense for Dane to side with the bad guys when Riven’s the one bullying him and Beatrix is complacent in the bullying. Oh, and having your second black* character who’s also lgbt+/potentially questioning be a villain? Not good.

I’m all for gay and poly rep, but not like this. If Stella and Sky’s toxic relationship is going to be called out for what it is, why not Dane’s?

*Idk if Theo Graham is light-skinned black or biracial so I’ll just refer to him as black.

7. The plot

It’s very predictable. Personally, wasn’t fond of the ‘twist of a twist of a twist’ style of writing. The story tries to be nuanced and deep but it’s not. Common sense is treated like a big revelation. Not trusting the war criminal you barely know isn’t as big of a take that the writers try to make it out to be.

8. Everything else

· Beatrix is fine. No Icy but did like the gothic bookworm aesthetic.

· Sam is just there to be Musa’s love interest and provide some dumb drama between Musa and Terra. I thought they’d go the Edward/Bella root – Musa’s drawn to Sam because she can’t sense his emotions for some reason. Nope, they just get together for the obligatory make out sessions. Don’t care much for the relationship or the character.

· Since the powers are all elemental shouldn’t there be classes purely for an elemental? Classes purely for fire fairies, etc?

· Musa’s powers are confusing. If she has no control over them and they are “always on”, shouldn’t her eyes constantly be glowing purple? Very wishy washy. Sometimes they overwhelm her and other times she has complete control. Her character is just there for plot stuff.

· Terra is one of the better characters but can’t enjoy her knowing about the whitewashing. Why can’t we have a plus sized character just exist and not have body issues?

· Sky doesn’t feel like a prince. Characters treat him like his dad is a war hero and not the King of Eraklyon. There was a point where I thought I misheard and thought his dad was just a war hero and not a king.

· Why try to justify Rosalind’s war crime if she’s going to be the big bad anyways?

· The way the characters treat death/act around death is very weird. Musa and Terra see a pile of dead bodies and they’re unreasonable calm. Especially Bloom an “ordinary teenage girl from earth”, reacts very nonchalant when death and war crimes are brought up. Doesn’t help the show tries to push this “they’re kids fighting a war” narrative.

· Can’t buy into the girls’ friendship. The Aisha/Bloom dynamic is centred on what Aisha can do for Bloom. Bloom only cares about herself and only goes to her friends to help with her problems. Most of Musa’s and Terra’s interaction centre around Sam. Stella didn’t care for the girls until her mom showed up and pulled a 180. The girls were quick to turn on Aisha when she sided with the adults.

· I have no problem with technology existing but why do they have Instagram, Tiktok and Tumblr? The otherworld is a completely separated from Earth, why do they have the same technology?

9. Brian Young, what do you mean by mature?

I grew up on the 4kids dub before transitioning to the Nick dub for season 4 and 5 then dropping the cartoon for good. So naturally on my rewatch of the cartoon I decided to go watch the RAI dub since I heard it’s more accurate and 4Kids are infamous for their horrid localisations straying too much to the source material. Upon finishing season 1 and currently watching season 2, a few things took me by surprise. For one, the cartoon is surprisingly dark. The schools are at war with the Trix and their army of Darkness, Sky almost dies in Season 2, Riven almost dies and the Trix thinks he suicided, it’s heavily implied in Season 2 Darkar murdered some of the pixies, the paedophilic undertones of Bloom and Avalon’s relationship, the list goes on.

When the interview with Brian Young came out, he said Fate would be a mature take on the cartoon. And I wondered, what did he meant by mature? Was he going to delve deeper into the darker aspects of the show, or did he mean he was going to have the girls swear and have sex? Watching Fate, I found my answer.

If you take out the gore, swearing, drug and alcohol usage from the live action, the maturity is on par with the RAI dub. The difference is in the presentation. This is what sucks about the mentality surrounding live action remakes. Because the OG!Winx was colourful with glittery transformations , was super girly and overall had a positive upbeat tone (not forgetting 2D animated) - it can’t be taken seriously. You have to strip all that, the colour, the kindness, the femininity in order to be deemed mature.

10. Wrapping up

I went into Fate expecting the worst and honestly, it wasn’t that bad. There were things I liked about it. The show looks pretty, and I did like what they were trying to do with Sky’s arc. The actors did what they could with the material. Freddie Thorp made the cringe dialogue work and Abigail Cowen proves she can carry a show as the lead.

Fate is your generic, YA, dark academia show. It follows all the tropes of the YA genre to a T. If that’s your niche, then you’ll love Fate and I’m not bashing anyone who liked it.

For me, as a creative, it doesn’t capitalise on the strengths of the source material. I’m not asking for Winx Club again, as I’ve reiterated, I’m all for creative freedom. But Brian Young, Iginio Straffi, whoever worked on this – they could’ve created something new, innovative, something that stood out from the hordes of other YA shows. They had good material in their hands! But what I got - I’ve seen before, and I’ve seen it done better. That’s a major disappointment.

As a winx club fan, don’t bother watching this. It’s a very diluted version of the Winx. In trying to capture the interest of the adult fans who grew up with the franchise – Iginio showed how out of touch he is if he thinks this is what they wanted.

#fate the winx saga #netwinx #back on my winx club bs #long post #this took me like 4 days to write

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