Maureen Josephine ♡ . ♡ .♡ . ♡ .♡ .♡ .♡ also known as, Purple, Lilla Solsikke, or Momo (: ► Vegan. 32 year old. Lover of all things purple. Water Bender. ☾ Slytherin. . ✯ . ♪ . ♫ . ☮ . 💜. ✿ . -What you will see on my blog: American Sign Language. Animals. Art. Avatar the Last Airbender/Korra. Big Hero 6. Billie Joe/Green Day. BoJack Horseman. Buddhism. Dexter. Doctor Who. Game of Thrones. Harry Potter. Hemlock Grove. The Hunger Games. Photography. Random funny stuff. Tim Burton. Travel pics. Wolves. Ylvis. ♡ I hope you enjoy. Med Mucho Mettā, -♡ Maureen
Since my other post is popping off, here is the rest of the Gaang. The biggest issues with the noses in the film designs are that they all suddenly have almost the exact same nose shape, there’s a lack of shadow which was indicative of the original art style, and their nostrils are dots which pretty much makes all their noses look so thin.
Now this is badly edited, but I did what I could, but the noses for the new ATLA movie have been bothering me immensely. All the noses look so bleh. I know the art style in general is very different from the series, but the noses are just SOOOOO different. I feel like this would have made a ton more sense and makes the character animation feel more in line with the original series. Had to see what it would look like for Aang and Katara at least.
I don't usually talk about video games but this time I gotta. Watched a play through of winter burrow, and I mean. Damn. For a game I expected not much other than cute visuals and some relaxing gameplay from, it's such a singular game that like, hurt honestly. In a good way.
(Spoilers and lots of rambling ahead)
It's a pretty basic set up, a survival game with crafting and farming and resource gathering elements, and a collection of npcs you do quests for and develop a fond relationship with. But with the twist that most of the npcs are struggling with some form of abusive relationship, as well as trauma or loss of a loved one.
Like, it's art style is very cute and quaint and obviously aimed to be cottagecore-esque, the combat is relatively simple and non-violent (you can honestly just run from any enemies) and you're doing tasks like collecting hazeulnuts for a mole. Seems cute and harmless right?
Except the mole is grieving that they think are the last one, desperately trying to grasp for any remnants of mole way of life they can find, a familiar feeling for any diaspora, trying to connect faint memories of family you can no longer see to what little tangible pieces of your culture you can find.
And you yourself are grieving your parents after a familiar story of moving to the city and becoming a victim to capitalism, both dying with nothing to show for years of back breaking work except meagre savings they never got to spend. Your only remaining family is your aunt, who likewise grieves your parents and seems to have many missing friends she has lost touch with, and spends most of the game recovering from the trauma of being attacked by an owl, a process made more long and arduous than most games like this would ever make a recovery from injury, especially with the emphasis she's struggling to recover mentally just as much as physically, and comes away from the experience deeply changed.
The squirrel is also alone, but because they were kicked out of their family for having memory issues after a head injury. Their dialogue starts with matter of fact retellings that they were forced to leave for being a useless burden. Derogatory comments, statements about how they couldn't correctly contribute, and frustrated struggling with their damaged memory almost constant. Overtime though they progress to realising they still have worth, both in the ways they still can contribute and purely just as someone who deserves a safe home and companionship, and that they did not deserve to be cruelly abandoned, a tale crafted to jab at any player with chronic physical or mental health issues and disabilities.
The toad is interesting because they are the abuser, a cranky stonemason bemoaning the fact their stubbornness and bullying drove away their child. Most of their dialogue is expressing worry for their safety, but you can still read between the lines, and especially when you meet the child themselves, that the toad was a classic example of an overcritical and strict parent with traditional values. The child asks you to not tell the toad where they are hiding, somberly remarking how a thing as small as wanting to live in a wood house instead of a stone one shouldn't have been enough to be a breaking point between them, and they would rather be alone in the cold and dark woods, where they were safe from the toad's treatment. I'm sure the allegory is clear to anyone queer. This does thankfully have a happy ending, the toad realising their faults and making amends in a way I as a trans man only dream of.
Then there's the hedgehog, maybe for me the most difficult part of the game to handle emotionally. A nervous uncertain character who is waiting for their partner to come home from tracking a fox. They make many remarks how their partner "always knows the right way to do things and what they tell me is for the best" and they paint a picture of being someone incompetent, unable to do anything without messing it up unless told how, only for your aunt to tell you they used to be a brave and talented adventurer and weaver. At first the mole is resigned to starving with only melted snow to drink for days because their partner took the larder key, assuring they were right to do so and not trust them with it. Even after finding the larder key abandoned in the snow, you have to try several times convince the hedgehog it's actually okay to use it and eat without their partner.
Maybe the most clear moment of this game's messaging is that unlike with the toad, this does not end with a reuniting and reconciliation, or a black and white understanding that your family was wrong for how they treated you like with the squirrel. You find several corpses of mice who died from the elements throughout the game, one of the rare darker moments when otherwise the "survival" aspect of your gameplay is kept fairly lighthearted. The last corpse you find is the hedgehog's partner, the one who always knew best and was so capable they obviously needed to make all the decisions. Yet they died in a fairly accidental manner, body lost in a snow drift and their partner left home alone and starving.
The game makes a few things clear. The hedgehog has not come to grips with the fact their partner was abusive. If you had found their partner, maybe the small bit of confidence you helped renew in them and them starting to understand how much they have changed negatively could have changed things. But ultimately, the hedgehog finds freedom and the possibility for being their confident and talented self again because the one holding them back is dead and gone. When you go back to visit, the hedgehog welcomes you, in mourning but still content and at peace, back to their weaving after years, their partner's cairn visible in the foreground. This is the happy ending.
Honestly, I know it's nothing groundbreaking. Plenty of games and other media, even ones like this that aren't dark and gritty filled with mature themes, speak on themes of trauma, loss, and abuse. But something about this just... really got me. Maybe it was because after the toad's quests, I expected something similar. I expected to meet the hedgehog's partner and for them to be a flawed but ultimately sympathetic character and the story to end with believing they would change their ways and the hedgehog could reclaim their confidence and self-esteem, gaining the ability to be an equal in their relationship. Nice but nothing special writing-wise. But no. You don't get reconcilation. You don't find someone misguided who without realising it harmed their loved one, but is ultimately regretful and wants to make amends. You find a body. You find their belongings scattered through the dark and cold woods, the hedgehog left behind, clueless and scared. And this is for the best.
This is what a chance at happiness look like sometimes.
i dislike the whole “horror is so back” narrative people are throwing around recently with obsession and backrooms. both are great movies, but horror was also so back with the long walk. and sinners. and the substance. and nosferatu. and literally anything directed by jordan peele. horror as a genre will always have its flops. but there will always be those few that revive the hype.
Just the fact that the first two times Nikki breaks free, she is so deeply terrified and confused over what is happening. And then, every other time, she is determined to make it as obvious as possible that she is an unwilling party under duress and tries to get people to help her.
This movie is so good.
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