Highly Important

I am an artist / animator / 🏳️‍🌈 This blog is for when I get obsessed with stuff and can’t stop thinking about it. / I am old enough to be your father (maybe)

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Religion in the World of Splatoon - An Analysis

A thought struck me when I was thinking about the Horrorboros and how it’s pretty strongly intended to be an Eastern dragon– “there really isn’t much discussion on the topic of religion and spirituality in the Splatoon world, even though it’s quite There”. I think that’s really interesting, because while it’s not a detail that’s front-and-center, it’s still pretty present in aspects of the world.

So, I offer you: a quick look and breakdown of religious + spiritual aspects in the funny little squid game. It’s not catch-all, I may miss fine details or this or that, but there’s some stuff that people often miss or are surprised to hear when I bring it up.

The tl;dr is that “yeah, it’s there. Squid Shinto is alive and well and we have, at least, canonization that the Squids (and Octopuses) acknowledge Christianity existing”.

But that’s not nearly enough for me, so read on if you want to see the details!

Keep reading

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My dumbass media interpretation thing is I’m always analyzing who is the cloth mother and who is the wire mother.

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Witch Hat Atelier: I feel like a lot of the Brim Cap plans we’ve seen so far are Xanatos Gambits.

This is named after the villain from Gargoyles. A Xanatos Gambit is a plan in which any foreseeable outcome benefits the person behind the plan, even if on the surface it would appear to be a failure.

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The Rebellious Animated Character

A ventriloquist dummy has a problem: it’s very easy to see that someone is controlling it.

So the easiest way to create that illusion of life is to make the dummy rebellious. They talk back, refuse to participate, insult the puppeteer, etc.

Rebellion functions as evidence of personhood.

And this tradition continues in animation!

Gertie the Dinosaur was presented as a vaudeville act. Winsor McCay would appear to command Gertie, but Gertie gets distracted and disobedient.

Duck Amuck makes the hidden controller visible, then uses resistance to re-establish Daffy’s aliveness.

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One thing that kind of frustrates me is I can watch something current with a big fandom and my only thoughts are like “cool this is neat” and then I watch something older and niche like “Big Guy and Rusty” and have an entire thesis worth of thoughts.

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Ok this is blasphemous but in Dimension 20, I usually feel like Intrepid Hero seasons are like … 2-3 episodes too long?

But, even though City Council of Darkness isnt my favorite, I feel like I could do twice as many episodes.

(It was the same with Gladlands, I could do a full season in that setting, especially if they slowed the pace down a little.)

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Speed Racer is kinda … frutiger aero

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I’m almost caught up with Witch Hat Atelier

One thing im really impressed with is how the series does layered plots. Looking at the Silver Eve arc, we have like 8+ stories happening, all staggered. Lots of detours to learn backgrounds and motivations of side characters. Setups with payoffs that happen way down the line.

And I don’t think these detours really damage the momentum. In fact, I think it kind of helps that some of the tension is pulled through the quieter moments.

I think the way she writes is called a chiasmus or maybe just nested composition? There are always a series of questions, from personal to philosophical to historical and/or institutional. Then we often get answers to newer questions rather than older questions, which I think really helps build momentum.

Anyway, loving it so far. Amazingly drawn and well-written.

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Update on reading the Witch Hat Atelier manga:

She is so cute. What a killer design.

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I haven’t totally caught up with Witch Hat Atelier yet so I haven’t really dipped in the tags, but I hope someone makes one of those “kids yelling McDonald’s” memes of it

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Controversial but outside of the rough brush strokes, I don’t understand the Parks and Recs comparisons with City Council of Darkness?

I keep seeing people on Reddit saying they get a Parks and Recs vibe from this season, and then of course Purpee/Pawnee. But even without the vampire stuff the two seem completely different to me.

And this is from someone who watched every episode of Parks and Rec. like… I get that these are both about small town civics … but is that it?

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Just started reading Witch Hat Atelier. I love it! I want to participate in the community but I don’t want to get spoiled so I have to catch up

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I really want to gush about how Brennan Lee Mulligan puts his politics in his art. I think it’s incredibly well-done, and I think he is finding very novel ways to express his political ideas. I just really want to see more discussions about it

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Having some kind of Heartstopper syndrome PTSD flashback.

I wish that lgbtq teens being shown love, affection, and guidance was real!

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Everyone wants to make creepy back rooms stuff in 3d.

Someone just make a cozy 80s/90s shopping mall instead, I’m begging you. Make it a chat room