#critque

[awesomecoyote337]

A Critique of Hellaverse's Worldbuilding

Hell Is Supposed to Be Eternal Suffering… But It Isn’t

Characters have superpowers, regeneration, and immortality from anything except angelic steel, physical suffering is temporary and trivial.

Also characters can regenerate if they're not killed by angelic weapons which should be a bigger deal but it's only mentioned like twice so inattentive viewers could have easily missed it.

Hell fails as a punishment because the physical consequences are negligible. It rewards characters with power rather than stripping them of it.

The Pride Ring Problem

Sinners are confined to the Pride Ring regardless of their sins, the other six rings serve no real purpose. If a sinner’s greatest sin wasn’t pride, why are they forced into the Pride Ring anyway? Why does the Greed Ring exist if greedy humans can't go there? Why does the Sloth Ring exist if slothful humans can't go there?

If God or Heaven created Hell’s rings as punishment, why create seven rings but force sinners into the Pride Ring anyway?

If Hell created Hell's rings, why would demons create six rings that don’t serve a clear purpose? Why would Hellborn be punished in rings for sins they didn’t commit, but not sinners?

I think it was a big mistake to make all of the plot take place in the Pride Ring. The rings were made to punish specific sins, restricting sinners to the Pride Ring renders the other 85% of Hell's geography useless for its intended purpose.

When Hell Is Other People (And When It's Not)

Lucifer's punishment is that he can't harm sinners. But he doesn’t have to interact with them and avoids any consequence for his sins. A punishment that can be negated by just staying home is not much of a punishment. So the punishment doesn’t functionally punish him.

Everyone has died and gone to Hell… there is supposedly no worse fate. This should result in total anarchy. The social contract relies on the fear of consequence. Hell removes that fear, yet society continues functioning normally. If the core concept is "Hell is other people" then the narrative has to show those people being unbearable. Most sinners act only slightly more cruel, wicked, and selfish than real-life people. Most characters aren’t tormented by anyone. They just… live their lives.

Characters work, eat, drink, and date.

If sinners cannot die permanently except through angelic weapons, cannot be further condemned, and have no fear of worse punishment, then why would they obey any social order?

Why isn’t society far more chaotic?

There’s crime, but it’s not apocalyptic.

There’s an economy, jobs, and functioning businesses.

There’s recognizable social order and power structures.

Why does an economy exist? Why is there food, drink, and currency? If the punishment is eternal suffering, why are there comforts?

Is the greatest thing we could come up with for eternal suffering is having to continue living but the average person is slightly more cruel, wicked, and selfish?

Hellborn Don’t Make Sense

Hellborn species (Imps, Hellhounds, etc.) are born in Hell. They did not choose to sin. They are simply born. Why do they suffer the same fate as condemned sinners? Why are they subject to the same eternal suffering as serial killers?

If demons can procreate and create new souls, are those souls automatically damned? If yes, then Hell is creating new souls, which contradicts the idea of Hell as a place where damned souls arrive after death.

This implies a cruel universe where a sentient being can be created solely to suffer without ever having a chance at Heaven. This changes Hell from punishment and eternal suffering to a biologically diverse dimension where bad humans happen to go after they die.

This undermines every moral or cosmic justification the setting could possibly have.

Why are there imp children? If demons can have children and create a soul, why? And why are they condemned to eternal suffering for the sin of being born?

Answering that would be much more interesting instead of answering "Can sex workers, pimps, and serial killers be redeemed?" (because we know the answer is going to inevitably be yes)

[unicornblossom13]

So this post is just me giving my personal thoughts on Jack, Raf, and Miko from Transformers Prime because, for whatever reason, I strongly feel the need to express them to whoever is willing to listen/read. I’ll start with their more positive traits and then get to the critiques. Now, these are my own opinions. If you like these characters and how they are, then that’s totally fine, no judgement.

Alright, let’s get into it…

Jack:

I would like to start off by saying that, on multiple occasions, Jack as proven to be incredibly helpful and resourceful during missions and dangerous situations, such as when he was able outwit Arachnid in Predatory and Crisscross, and defeat an Insection in Orion Pax, Part 3 all on his own. He is also protective of his friends and has shown good leadership potential.

However, despite that, his personality is severely underdeveloped. We don’t know what his other interests are besides motorcycles, how his father leaving affected him, or anything that gives him real depth. Also, some of his interactions with Arcee in season one felt rather… uncomfortable when they took on a rather flirtatious tone.

Raf:

Raf is a sweet boy and his computer skills have made him a valuable asset to the team. His relationship with Bumblebee and Ratchet were also nice to see. And the moments where he’s a bit sassy are pretty funny, too.

That being said, though, he doesn’t really have much going for him outside of being a child genius. We get snippets that he has some issues in his home life, such as feeling ignored by his family, but it’s never truly expanded on. Plus, the fact he can understand Bumblebee without any real explanation doesn’t make sense.

Miko:

Now, for Miko, she does have more personality compared to the boys. And she has proven to be very loyal and shows real bravery on quite a few occasions.

Despite that, it doesn’t drawn much attention away from the fact her habit of charging into dangerous situations without a plan, or just because she wants to see something cool, is problematic, especially in season one. In the Shadowzone episode, she gets herself and the boys stuck in an alternate dimension with a Terrorcon because she sneaked off after the Autobots when she should have stayed put. After that, you would think she learned her lesson, but she does the same thing again by going into an active battlefield without anyone’s knowledge in T.M.I., which lead to events where Bulkhead almost got killed. Now, while she does acknowledge her mistakes in both episodes, she’s never truly held accountable for them by anyone, instead having things said to her that would assuage her guilt, which didn’t help her character development.

And, until she dons the Apex Armor in season three, she doesn’t really contribute anything noteworthy to the team. She does what she can in situations, but she’s just not as helpful as Jack and Raf. In the Tunnel Vision episode, we get the idea that Miko wants to be of more use, but they never truly went into depth with it and it wasn’t properly resolved (and it was Jack who said she wanted to be more helpful, not Miko herself). She did save Wheeljack from Hardshell, but she might be getting a bit too much credit for it as she just pushed a button while Wheeljack did all the fighting (I’m not saying she should have faced Hardshell up close and personal, she used what was available to her, but I just don’t think it was the most impressive feat in the show).

Also, she severely lacks real depth to her character. The only things we know about her is what she’s told us in the introductory episodes, which isn’t a lot to go on at all. We see that she loves metal music and likes to draw occasionally, but it doesn’t really lead anywhere. There is also no explanation behind her words and actions in some episodes, she just says and does whatever and the show leaves it at that.

Conclusion:

Overall, while the kids have some good moments, it doesn’t take away from the fact that all three of them lack proper depth and character development. They also become pretty irrelevant in the later seasons.

I think the writers didn’t really try that hard to make them more interesting or have them stand out as individuals, which lead to them falling flat as characters. And, occasionally, all three of them have shown to possess Gary/Mary Sue-like traits as things work out for them a bit too well sometimes.

I don’t hate the kids, really, but I also don’t love or care about them very much.

Thank you for listening to my ramblings, I just wanted to get that off my chest.

[adorkabletwilightandfriends]

Adorkable Twilight & Friends - “The Forever Constant"

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[rootbeergoddess]

So this is just a quick question, but does anyone feel that KPop Demon Hunters didn't need a 'romance' subplot?

I keep thinking about how Free is my least favorite song in the movie, and I think it's because its placement is so weird. It comes at the tail end of the second act, and then we go straight into the third act. The ending, while good, felt rushed.

Also, Rumi, I love you, but when you went to talk to Zoey and Mira, you shouldn't have mentioned Jinu!

[winx-reimagined]

MASTERLIST

A magic dimension is obviously going to be full of magical creatures. Fairies, witches, pixies (do specialists count as magical? To be discussed later), and several others. But what makes a fairy a fairy and a witch a witch? Aside from aesthetics and alignment, there’s always been a lack of information about the differences and makings of the various beings that exist in the magic realm. There’s also a lack of information about important beings like the Great Dragon, Daphne—nymphs in general frankly—, Faragonda, and many other people & events. Hell, no one can even tell how long the war against the Ancestral Witches lasted. Was it 16 years or over multiple centuries? Like seriously, why is Faragonda old as balls but the war started when she was a teen / young adult, but Bloom is only 16 and nobody remembers her or the war? (Even if she was born at the end of the war, that’s still not enough time for everyone to forget about it).

All I’ve been able to gather from the series is that witch magic is fueled by negative emotion & winx magic by positive emotions. But this isn’t always the case since, for example, when Bloom was infuriated because she thought Kikko was dead she released a massive amount of power. Call it a hunch, but I don’t think she was feeling very live-laugh-love in that moment. Though, you could argue her love for Kikko was the motivation even if the emotion was a negative one. Still, at the end of the day, she acted out in rage and not love.

And clearly, one’s form of magic can be changed, given Mirta became a fairy. Which I personally don’t like, she could’ve just been a good witch (which would help fight the stigma that they’re so adamant about keeping up until it’s convenient for the witches to help the good guys) but I get the school environment might’ve not been the best for her. It just sucks that the only reoccurring witch character we get are the Trix and then are expected to just accept that witches aren’t evil.

Given that Stella said Bloom was born with her powers and the city of Magix, especially the schools, don’t allow non-magical beings to enter. This has to mean the specialists are magical creatures. But the only magical thing they do is use their weapons (which I’m not even actually sure is magic or if it’s just advanced tech or both?) What specialists are is such a neglected topic I’m almost convinced they’re just regular dudes. Also, why are princes training the same way as knights or squires? Like yes, I get “military training” given Sky would lead the royal army if ever the occasion, but I would imagine there’s more to being a king than being able to fight. The princesses don’t ever get “military training” though I guess they do learn how to fight (I think, it at least looks like it) and change the color of their hair. A necessary skill to rule over a kingdom, surely.

I believe that all of their magic is the same but what they choose to do with it ultimately dictates what they end up becoming. But then that puts into question why are witches allowed to go to school? And what are any of them going to school for? Relating back to my previous rant “Cloud Tower | School of Terrorists” most of the Winx dubs have set up witches and their school to feed off negative emotion, not to mention have called most of them evil especially given the terrible deeds of the Ancestral Witches. But how does school function within the magic realm? Because in real life, it’s meant to prepare children for jobs or further education. This idea is never really explored, honestly, I think the fact that the girls are growing up and will soon leave Alfea is never really brought up (mind you I haven’t watched season 7, so maybe it is) since even once they’ve graduated they stay at the school to act as teachers. Which is cool and all, but eventually these girls have to move on. Stella, Aisha, & Bloom all have kingdoms to rule over and Tecna, Flora, & Musa have their own interests but this idea of growing up and moving on from school is never really talked about. And while I know most of my writing is about the actual writing of the series and not its influence on its audience, this idea would’ve been great for young girls to watch so they’re not so afraid of growing up and moving on. Because it’s inevitable and seeing your fictional idols experience that and overcome it, would make it less scary.

Anyway, it’s unfortunate we don’t get to see what they learn from school often. We hardly see what the fairies learn, let alone the witches or specialists. And weirdly, for a show that heavily involves magical schools, we never see any arcs about school competitions, tournaments, festivals, or interactions with other schools. Even regular high schools have basketball or football games against other schools regularly. It’s just sad how little their school life actually makes an appearance in the series. Especially when it seems they’re either too scared or too lazy (perhaps even too uncreative) to let go of them being at Alfea.

I also wish we got to see more unique cases, similar to Mirta, of people who don’t fit the binary of witch, fairy, and specialist. Also we never really learn about other kinds of these species(?)/groups, like how there are nymphs and presumably an equivalent level for witches, not to mention there are also sorcerers. It’s even weirder given Nymph is the next level in terms of fairy magic and yet none of the main crew go on to learn how to become one? But also, what is a nymph? Like always it isn’t explained, saying they’re a stronger fairy isn’t much of an explanation.

Sometimes it makes me sad to write rants like this because it makes me realize that Winx was not as unique as I thought it was nor as in-depth as it could’ve been. I still love the series of course, but taking it apart and analyzing it like this has its consequences. Though in a way, it does motivate me more to add my own ideas and creations to the series, and I hope my ramblings and machinations are at the very least entertaining!

[souleaterpostanime]

Soul Eater Post Chapter/Episode/Draft 43

Read it on Webtoons or A03

So yeah, finally it's here - the reason it took so long is also the reason why I didn't spam stupid comments while refreshing the Soul Eater tag on tumblr - wastes of times, poor impulse control, getting distracted and scatterbrained - so yeah, I'll try to finish this arc, then do the iceberg, while not really engadging with the "community" (because of this and many other reasons which if I tried to explain would only confuse people and make them hate me lol ((even if I say LOVE EVERYBODY))

Anyways, hopefully see the next one in a week, if not - Yeah...Sorry

[umbrellalad]

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[yesterdaysprint]

Chicago Tribune, Illinois, November 5, 1905