Hanachaos - Random Posts

it takes the end of time

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/tegBvm7 by Numaix "In her cell, Glinda woke with a start. The lumbago was more punishing than the incarceration, but a sense of spring had filtered all the way down the open canyon roof of Southstairs, and she caught a whiff of freshness, of arrogant possibility. Her glasses had broken a year ago. She didn't need them anymore, not really. She knew who was turning the door handle of her cell. She called her name sleepily, and added, 'You wicked thing. You've taken your own sweet time, of course.'" - Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire --- old women gelphie Words: 1618, Chapters: 2/?, Language: English Fandoms: Wicked - All Media Types, The Wicked Years Series - Gregory Maguire Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: F/F Relationships: Elphaba Thropp/Galinda Upland read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/tegBvm7

I genuinely want to murder whoever invented the "He's not a villain he's just broken... 🥺" quote. 

Seeing the way people who haven't even seen the Mario movie straight up call Peach a bitch because she didn't want to marry Bowser is genuinely freaking me out, "he just wanted love... 🥺" mf threatened millions of people, specifically targets her kingdom, and then threatened to kill the people she cares about infront of her. 

And I know god damn well that the "BuT iT's JuSt FiCtIoN. 🤓" people are the same ones who get angry at Bowuigi for being “problematic,” (its gay) These people seem to forget fiction is a reflection of reality, if your immediate thought to a fictional princess rejecting the hell lizard who threatened to kill her friends is “she's such a bitch" that's just misogyny, plain and simple. 

And I'm not even gonna bother trying to point out how these people are 100% using the exact same arguments as the pedophiles who drew child porn of streamers during minecrafts rise back into popularity in 2020.

Bowser isn't the only case of this either. 

I've been watching people do this for years with villains like Skywalker, Discord, The Joker, Steven Universe's Diamonds, Bojack Horseman, Silco, Walter White, Patrick Bateman, Every single game of thrones character, Resident Evil antagonists, jigsaw, and last but not least, REAL LIFE SERIAL KILLER AND RAPIST JEFFREY DAHMER. 

You know what every single one of these characters has in common, except for maybe Silco and Jigsaw? 

First of all, They're very pretty, their actors and designs are incredibly attractive, 

And second of all, they're bigots. 

I was going to write an explanation on why these patterns have been patterning for years and why it's gotten so bad, but i'm genuinely so tired of having to explain this over and over again, if you have enough critical thinking skills, you should potentially be able to think about this, and if you don't, than it's a good thing I gave up on writing the rest of this. 

TLDR: People are being misogynistic over a maybe 18 year old and a "nice guy" lizard and i point out how this is really fucked up and weird.

Blog post 10 - Representation of women in games

The way women have been represented in video games has evolved significantly over the years, often reflecting societal and cultural changes. The portrayal of female characters has gone through a complex transformation; however, challenges and criticisms still persist.

History of representation

In the early years, female characters were often portrayed in a stereotypical manner, with a common portrayal being the damsel in distress trope such as Princess Peach and Zelda, where they would later be the reward or prize for the male protagonist.

In the 80s the 90s, we see iconic characters who broke away from traditional stereotypes like Samus Aran, who was a strong independent character whose gender was hidden to be a surprise reveal to players. Lara Croft is another example, however her design featured very unrealistic proportions which would be adjusted in later games.

In the 2000s, despite progress there were persistent challenges and some instances of regressive representation. Many games continued to objectify and sexualize women, for example Grand Theft Auto III (2001) and every instalment since has featured women as sex workers.

The gaming industry continued to grow and with it so the demands for better representation. In the 2010s we got to see some complex characters such Ellie from The Last of Us (2013), who had depth and were central to the narrative.

As we reached the 2020s great strides had been taken towards better representation. We got games with strong, well executed female protagonists such as Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) and Horizon Forbidden West (2022). We also saw examples of complex and believable female protagonists in indie games like Madeline from the game Celeste (2018).

Examples

Lara Croft is a character we were first introduced to in Tomb Raider (1996) and while she was a strong female character, there were many criticisms about her appearance, especially in earlier iterations. Her design focused on exaggerated and unrealistic physical proportions which contributed to the objectification of women in games and reinforced harmful beauty standards, furthermore the focus on her sexualised appearance overshadowed her character depth. Eventually she got a complete redesign in the reboot to the series Tomb Raider (2013), where she is a well-proportioned, more suitably dressed protagonist who also becomes more a fully realised character with flaws, who learns and is overall just more human.

The GTA series of games has often been talk of controversy for the way it glorifies sexual harassment and violence against women characters. In many GTA titles female characters are often objectified and reduced to hyper sexualized roles, such as sex workers like mentioned above. The games frequently depict scenes with derogatory language as well as violence against women, this reinforces negative stereotypes and misogynistic behaviour, as well as contributing to a culture of sexism amongst the gaming community. The larger concern, however, is that the exposure to these things can cause it to become so normalised that when instances of violence and sexual harassment occur in real life, people won’t be as shocked or empathetic about it.

A decade before Lara Croft in Metroid (1986) we were introduced to Samus Aran, who stands out as a positive example of female representation. Her surprise reveal at the end of the game broke the gender norms by showcasing a woman as a powerful and capable space bounty hunter. Since then, she has been consistently portrayed as strong character, her narrative not being driven by damsel-in-distress scenarios or romantic situations, but instead by her battle against threats and the pursuit of justice. Then as the series progressed, she became a well-rounded character with depth and resilience, whose legacy has consistently helped challenge stereotypes surrounding female characters.

Aloy, the protagonist of Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) and Horizon Forbidden West (2022) is a more recent example of positive female representation in videogames. She defies the traditional gender expectations as a skilled and determined hunter in her post-apocalyptic world and is defined by her intelligence, resourcefulness and sense of justice. Her narrative doesn’t revolve around romantic plots but rather a quest for knowledge and understanding of the world she inhabits. Her design is also a great part of her character, not being objectified or sexualised so players connect with her through her personality and abilities. She is a testament to the gaming industry’s ability to create diverse and empowering female protagonists, and the popularity of her character only proves this, setting a standard for future portrayals of women.

What can be done?

Challenging stereotypical representations of women requires diverse character creation by developers which will help ensure depth beyond their appearance. This is something I aim to achieve in my field of 3D modelling, making sure that I avoid exaggerated features and prioritize authenticity in the physical appearance.

There will need to be a large collaborative effort from developers, players, and the industry as a whole in order to create positive change on this matter. Celebrating games that break the traditional norms will incentivize developers towards more of these narratives, and there are also certain discussions that need to be had within the gaming community about gender representation and awareness, as well as education on these matters in order to create positive change.

An interesting example of change is the recently revealed next instalment in the GTA series, which features a female protagonist called Lucia. This is a huge step for Rockstar Games, especially considering the above-mentioned history and controversies and even though the game isn’t set to release till 2025, it will be interesting to see the depiction of Lucia and other female characters in the game.

Bibliography

CORE DESIGN. (1996) Tomb Raider. [DISC] PlayStation. London: Eidos Interactive

CRYSTAL DYNAMICS. (2013) Tomb Raider. [DISC] Xbox One. London: Square Enix Europe

DMA DESIGN. (2001) Grand Theft Auto III. [DISC] Xbox. New York City: Rockstar Games

GUERRILLA GAMES. (2022) Horizon Forbidden West. [DISC] PlayStation 4. San Mateo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

GUERRILLA GAMES. (2017) Horizon Zero Dawn. [DISC] PlayStation 4. San Mateo: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Harris, W. & Phillips, R., 2023. 23 Best Video Games With Female Protagonists. [Online] Available at: https://www.thegamer.com/best-video-games-female-protagonists/#night-in-the-woods [Accessed 29 December 2023].

Harveston, K., 2023. A Brief History Of Female Representation In Video Games. [Online] Available at: https://headstuff.org/topical/female-representation-in-video-games-history/#:~:text=History%20indicates%20that%20women%20began,good%20example%20of%20that%20trend. [Accessed 29 December 2023].

MADDY MAKES GAMES. (2018) Celeste. [DISC] Xbox One. Vancouver: Maddy Makes Games

NAUGHTY DOG. (2013) The Last of Us. [DISC] PlayStation3. Santa Monica: Sony Computer Entertainment

NINTENDO R&D1, INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS. (1986) Metroid. [GAME] Nintendo Entertainment System. Kyoto: Nintendo

Williams, H., 2020. How Horizon Zero Dawn Moves Beyond The Strong Female Character. [Online] Available at: https://www.kotaku.com.au/2020/08/how-horizon-zero-dawn-moves-beyond-the-strong-female-character/ [Accessed 29 December 2023].

My face is sitting, I don't need no disguise. Don't comment on my body, do not reply. Your business is yours and mine is mine. Why do you care so much whose dick I ride?

ARIANA GRANDE   yes, and? (2024)

the sonic franchise has a misogyny problem

hello everyone, are you ready for another long essay by me? because i sure am. this has been on my mind for a while now. i've already talked about how the sonic fandom tends to treat the female characters worse than the male characters. but what about the franchise? do they treat the female characters better? well, in this essay i'm gonna talk about the misogynistic aspects of the sonic franchise. i'm not just gonna focus on the games, but also on other adaptations. so sit back, and lets have a long talk.

(art by evan stanley)

the lack of recurring female characters

quick question, how many recurring female characters can you name off the top of your head? no, the non game characters don't count, and no, the ones who only appeared in one game and then disappeared don't count. i can only name four recurring female characters - amy, blaze, rouge, and cream. maybe vanilla too. compare that to the amount of recurring male characters - we have sonic, tails, knuckles, shadow, silver, the chaotix, eggman. yeah you can see the problem. and these four characters aren't even utilized that well as of late. blaze especially has so much potential. she lives in another dimension for christ's sake. but sega just doesn't do anything with her. she deserves her own game to explore her dimension. like, there's so much potential with these characters but they just don't do much with them.

the way they treat their lead female character

amy rose is the main female character of the sonic franchise. i've already written an entire essay on how she's treated so i'm gonna try and keep this short. the way sega used to treat their main female character is appalling. she already got enough hate from the fandom, and sega just didn't make it better. just look at how the social media team used to treat her

i have never seen any sonic characters get this much jabs from the social media team as her. heck, i've never seen a lead female videogame character get treated as badly as amy. and the way they purposely go to exclude her? just look at what happened with mania. it was supposed to be a celebration of all things classic sonic but they didn't have her there even though she was a classic character. instead they brought two characters from an obscure arcade game. which... yeah its nice to see obscure characters get the chance to shine but you don't have to exclude a main character for that. and even in origins, though she's in the marketing and cutscenes, she's not playable. why? and before you say "oh its because she wasn't playable before", tails and knuckles weren't playable in sonic 1 either yet they were able to be included there. so what's wrong with making amy playable? what else am i supposed to call the purposeful exclusion of the classic era's only female character other than misogyny? seriously, i've never seen any other franchise do this to their lead female character. even PRINCESS PEACH gets treated better. peach got her own damn game. what's sega's excuse? if they treat their lead female like this, what does it say about how they treat their other female characters?

and one last thing. i've already touched on this before but it makes me angry so i'm gonna rant on it again. the way sega seems to think amy's role in sa2 in reminding shadow of his true promise to maria is replaceable. and every time she's been replaced, its a male character who took her place (chris in x, implied to be sonic in archie). and honestly, i don't have high hopes that they'll let her keep that role in the movie either. i don't even have high hopes that she'll appear in the movie. forgive me for being a negative nancy but i've been disappointed too many times.

archie's treatment of its female characters

lets talk about archie now. pre reboot archie sonic, especially before flynn came around, was an embarrassment to the franchise for many reasons. but what i don't see many people talking about is how they treated their female characters.

lets start with sally, since she's the comic's lead female. those who know her from satam know her as the leader of the freedom fighters, a strategic genius, a no nonsense princess who is determined in her goals. but in archie, especially when penders came along, her agency was taken away. once king max was rescued, penders didn't know what to do with sally. so she had little personality besides being a princess. and need i mention how he tried to kill off sally in the most anticlimatic way? she spent most of the time after the endgame arc being stuck in the castle, not joining sonic and co on battles like she used to. and need i mention the utterly disgusting aspect that is her """"""relationship""""" with geoffrey? there is one issue i particularly remember when geoffrey kissed sally without her consent and sonic saw it from afar. what does he do? does he confront geoffrey about it? does he protect sally? nope, he just thinks that sally is trying to make him jealous. what the fuck?! she's legit being sexually harassed and you're just going to blame her for it? i know this was the 90s but STILL. and to make matters worse, sally is 16 while geoffrey is in his 20s.

and let me talk about how characters are introduced solely to be a love interest. like mina mongoose. i've got nothing against her but lets face it, she was introduced solely to create drama in sonic and sally's relationship. and they even gave her super speed just so she could have something sally didn't, so she could be a "competition" to sally. they didn't even do anything with it later. and flynn has it retconned so that mammoth mogul was the one that gave her that power.

and speaking of which..... ig every female character has taken interest in sonic at one point. we have sally, amy, mina, fiona, bunnie.... it seemed like they wanted sonic to have as many love interests as possible. i mean just look at this cover

and if they weren't into sonic, they were into any other boy. mostly knuckles. and speaking of which, lets talk about julie-su. she's supposed to be this strong woman type character but penders made her whole personality being knuckles' gf. she occassionally showed her "girl power" when she was sticking it to vector (who was turned into a misogynistic asshole to make julie look good. granted this was before heroes gave him a personality but after that you'd think they'd change up vector's character). flynn and occassionally bollers tried to make her interesting but she just didn't do it for me imo. and lara-su, knuckles' daughter who was supposed to be the main character of the "mobius: 25 years later" arc, got sidelined in her own arc. she doesn't have much of a personality there other than wanting to be the next guardian.

now when flynn came along the treatment of the female characters got better. and even more so after the reboot. but i feel like this is something we should talk about.

"only male hedgehogs can go super"

this is, without a doubt, the stupidest mandate ever. i get it, going super is something not everyone can do and if that was the case, the super form would lose its specialness. but why specify only male hedgehogs? the "hedgehogs" part is already stupid enough because tails and knuckles have gone super before, but why the "male" part? why specify that? seriously, give me one good reason why only make hedgehogs should be able to go super. i can't think of any reason this mandate exists besides sexism.

female characters being less utilized than male characters

this kind of ties in to the first point, but the female characters are generally less explored than the male characters. we have few recurring female characters and sega doesn't even utilize them that much. again, blaze has so much potential. there's so much about her to be explored, but sega just..... doesn't do that. we don't even see her much in the games anymore.

and lately, cream is also being excluded from the games. the last mainline game she appeared in was generations. and tell me, what was the reason for cream to be replaced by the chao in team sonic racing? this is amy's little sister figure, and you're just gonna replace her without giving an explanation as to where she is? at least with espio and charmy, they had a reason to not be with vector here. but with cream, there's no reason she's not here.

the female characters have so much potential. they have interesting aspects to them, dare i say it, some of them are even more interesting than the male characters. but sega just doesn't see that.

that's all for my rant. in short, sega has a history of mistreating or underutilizing their female characters as compared to their male characters. though its getting a bit better, they still have a long way to go.

Ozdust Ballroom dance glinda's dress is inspired by brazilian glinda! the dance pose is also one they do in the brazilian version of the musical! can you tell im brazilian lol

25 posts!

Some of y'all are just so insensitive, this is not some Twitter drama and it shouldn't be reduced to Twitter drama

You can't be for real 😭

“And the strange thing: Your life could end up changing While you’re dancing through"♫ (late post)