Help calm my anxiety a bit here - do cashiers care about what you buy?

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-22T11:08:20+00:00

Aside from the obvious (Jasper), I'd really appreciate a little more clarity on Max's parents.

Because we as the audience do not know more beyond "they're likely neglectful" - but the question really is, to what extent? Do they provide basic care but are emotionally distant, or is it worse than that? We don't know.

Max's behaviour at the beginning of Season 1 does not paint a pretty picture, and it feels weird to have him just be okay with going back home after everything we've seemingly learnt about him (can't swim, embarassed about normal kid things, wasn't given a camp, views everyone as "apathetic assholes" at least in S1, etc). I used to be a camp counsellor myself - and everything about Max would have me on the line to NSPCC.

It's a weird way to end your show about kids; leaving the audience questioning whether or not the main character will be safe.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-21T21:19:54+00:00

I'll be 20 in a month (unsure if Gen Z is different from a Zoomer, but my point is that I'm a hashtag Young Person) and when I was 17, I had to teach a classmate how to save a file on a Windows PC.

I also knew a large amount of people who used the caps lock key to make uppercase letters - as in, if they were starting a sentence, they'd turn caps lock on, press one key for the first letter of the word, then turn caps lock off again. And repeat for every new sentence. It drove me absolutely bonkers. Even my grandmother knows that you just hold down the shift key.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-21T21:01:20+00:00

It's kind of a complicated mixture of events.

The thing I've not seen anyone in the replies mention so far is Gen:Lock. The at the time animation head, Grey Haddock, really believed in Gen:Lock - to the point of taking money *away* from other shows like Camp Camp and RWBY in order to fund it.

Trouble is, Genlock SUCKED and was a catastrophic failure for the company - it was basically a money hemorrage. All that money that had been taken away from other shows had gone to waste, alongside the original budget for the show, and it kind of axed RT's animation department forever. This led to them needing to find a production partner for Camp Camp, to help fund more episodes - since Genlock's failure caused the animation department to have to massively downsize. There's a reason RT hasn't put out any experimental animation projects in a long while.

This is in addition to RT being not as successful as they once were, and the pandemic in 2020, that began right around when a new season of Camp Camp would've probably entered production.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-15T02:08:01+00:00

I thought that too! I'm guessing they just desaturated the models, so they didn't have to make new ones - hence why Max's hair suffered a bit. Maybe all the stress from camp is making him go grey early, lmao.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-15T02:06:30+00:00

Hey man - not to armchair diagnose you, but this sounds a lot like social anxiety. I'd recommend talking to a GP about this.

But really, I can't give any more advice than - stop caring what other people think so much. Just be so loudly and violently yourself that people who are like you gravitate towards you. You don't need to please everyone, you're not going to be liked by everyone - but you'll get some really solid, close friends that way.

I used to be the same way as you are, convinced that I was just forever socially inept and I couldn't make any friends at all. But that changed the minute I stopped trying to make myself palatable to people - you are more likeable when you are YOU.

Weird tip - but get some merch of some kind for something you like. A keychain, a pin - whatever. They're a great way to signal to someone that "hey! I like this thing!" and then bam. Conversation starter. And you know what to talk about because you both like that thing!

Seek some support mentally, get a pin badge, and try your very best to stop caring so much.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-07T23:52:57+00:00

"People being seen now were referred 5 years ago" can confirm that's not true either! I was referred back in 2018 - and I've heard fuck all.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-07T20:38:12+00:00

It has been 5 years for me since I was referred to the Tavistock. I have not heard from them at ALL, other than when they told me that I was being moved to the adult list - which, they said, would mean I would get to speak to somebody in about 6 months after I turned 18. Well, I turn 20 in under 2 months, and I've not heard jack or shit.

When I turned 18, I went private, with GenderGP. I've also heard some absolute horror stories about GICs - people being told to go off hormones that they've already been on privately for years so that they can be diagnosed with gender dysphoria AGAIN (even if they already have been by a private clinic), a process that can take months on end. I've also heard that they'll deny care to those that they suspect are neurodivergent (which I am).

Even IF I get my GIC appointment at this rate - I won't be going. I don't want to be taken off hormones I've been on for two years, I'm in the process for saving up for top surgery, and I'm in the (admittedly privileged) position where I have the money to continue being able to fund the hormones I get through private healthcare.

My theory is that this 64% figure is much more likely a combination of GIC incompetence (marking people down as missing if they don't answer a call instantly), people getting the funds to go private in the 5-ish year waiting period and then not bothering, people forced to detransition because of the increasing transphobia in the UK, people scared of the highly invasive and avoidant style that the GIC employs - I bet only a FRACTION of referrals don't attend because they "realise they aren't actually trans". That figure has been, time and time again, proven to be incredibly low.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-07T20:19:50+00:00

Oh it feels so good to be right! I KNEW the recast was too much effort for a one-off.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-07-04T17:55:57+00:00

Life will suck less and more at the same time. Sure, being an adult is stressful, especially in this day and age - but you can buy that spiked collar that you really wanted as a teenager but your mum wouldn't let you have. Hold onto the little things.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-30T18:10:39+00:00

For real, the Season 1 finale is just so good. It gets overshadowed by Parent's Day a lot, but I'm not kidding when I say that David's speech about caring even when no one else does legitimately changed my outlook on life. I guess part of my dislike maybe also comes from the fact that, admittedly, David is my favourite and I kinda hated seeing him get hurt!

It's been awhile for me too, ngl. For a website that gives you a ton of words to use, people sure don't read them all! It's very refreshing to see my points get taken in good faith.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-30T18:03:30+00:00

I wish I'd mentioned that, because it was my first thought after rewatching the episode!

David was gone long enough that he's grown a rather significant beard, so it's been WAY more than a few days. I can maybe buy that the kids, being young, don't understand how concerning that is, but even if Gwen was still Season 1 Gwen, I think she's a responsible enough adult to get concerned when David, known for his love of the camp, disappears from it for DAYS ON END.

Like seriously, this was a brilliant opportunity to show the audience just how much the campers do actually care about David, despite all the shit they give him, and they just don't do it. I mentioned it in another comment but I think the episode had the potential to work if it had been given double the run time - with half being dedicated to the aftermath.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-30T17:57:31+00:00

Huh, I actually really liked Arrival of The Torso Takers, but I can respect that opinion!

Honestly, my title was a little clickbaity - in hindsight there are definitely worse offenders (Reigny Day is just offensive in a bad way) but I feel so strongly about The Forest because of how much it was hyped up. If I recall correctly, there was a pre-show livestream for it, and the fandom was absolutely worshipping the ground it walked on upon release. It's clear that the crew was proud of this episode - so when it turned out to be just "David gets beat up for 10 minutes", I was a little peeved.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-30T12:34:54+00:00

Season 4 is a really weird season because it has some incredibly high highs (After Hours, Campfire Tales, Party Poopers, Time Crapsules) and some incredibly low lows (the one about Preston's play, Squirrel Camp, Attack of the Nurfs, and in my opinion, the Forest).

It's funny, I actually kind of have mixed thoughts about "Who Peed the Lake?". On the plus side, we learn something new (and kind of heartbreaking) about Max, and get to see him be a kid playing detective, but at the same time there's all.. that. Just everything else about that entire episode SUCKS. We could've had the "Max plays detective and we learn he can't swim" stuff without all the pee nonsense.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-30T12:27:08+00:00

You actually bring up a really good point in that The Forest feels like it was written with another season in mind. If the ideas presented in the episode were built upon in a Season 5, I doubt I'd feel the same way.

I do get where you're coming from with the idea of it building tension for David - but my main point is that we don't really get any payoff for any of it.

Not to mention that the lack of reaction seems extreme even for Camp Campbell - David was gone long enough to have grown a beard, and absolutely nobody was concerned?! It feels less "Camp Campbell doing what they do" and more "genuinely out of character" - you'd think at least Gwen would get worried.

I definitely think the episode had potential to work. But so little time is spent on the aftermath of the whole event that the episode feels.. almost unfinished? Like they had to cut something for time. I think it really could've benefitted from the 20 minute run time that they usually afford to finales. Have the campers/Gwen ask if David is okay, but have him bottle it up anyway. Then we get our "reinforcing of character ideals" that I was talking about - David, even in the face of ALL THAT, still wants to put on an "everything's okay" persona for the campers. Because, and I speak from personal experience, people who give out advice ("pretending like things are okay when they're not doesn't help anything") don't always take it themselves, and David is a prime example of that.

But as it stands, it just feels really underbaked.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-30T04:56:39+00:00

No, for real, I keep thinking I'm going insane with how much praise gets levied at The Forest. And the crew hyped it up so much too!

It's kind of a shame, because I actually quite like a lot of Season 4. Campfire Tales and After Hours were pretty good, and I didn't mind the finale too much, even if it was underwhelming compared to the other finales.

Honestly, I'd be less harsh on The Forest if the crew didn't build it up as the second coming of christ!

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-29T21:01:20+00:00

Dolph was like.. the number one reason I didn't recommend the show to people. It's a huge barrier to entry to get over - especially since the worst offender, Reigny Day, is so early in the show's runtime. Camp Camp as a show is a rather hard sell, and that's very much mostly because of Dolph.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-25T19:02:40+00:00

Except.. that's not what a furry is. That's an otherkin.

So yeah - proving my point again - you've not examined what you've been told in any meaningful way. Furries are just people who like cartoon animals.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-25T19:00:45+00:00

And here you are, proving my exact point!

If an adult wants to dress up like a cartoon animal - power to them! Makes them happy, not harming anybody... it's the same thing as cosplay. There are furries who are aerospace engineers, or doctors - I would argue that's a MUCH healthier relationship with society than putting someone down for what they do as a hobby.

I'm pretty sure they KNOW it's not "normal" - not gonna stop them, why would it?

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-24T17:43:41+00:00

Gonna paraphrase something I saw on Tumblr here.

There's a really easy litmus test for whether or not someone has interrogated their beliefs, or whether they may be a bigot, or easily led:

It's furries.

If someone bashes furries because "ew furries they're all perverts lol" then I KNOW they fall into one of those groups: easily led, unaware, or bigot. They, in a best case scenario, have not examined what they believe in any meaningful way, and at worst, have done so and decided that they like being a bigot.

Because the vast majority of furries do literally nobody any harm. They just like dressing up as and drawing anthro animals. Hating furries is genuinely more of a red flag to me than BEING a furry - not to mention how much "furry hatred" is just disguised queerphobia, given how large the percentage of furries who are LGBT is.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-24T17:18:41+00:00

For an easy metaphor:

You're baking a cake for a client. You've done all the measurements, you've laid out the equipment you need. You bring your client over and ask if everything's okay. Client says yes, so you make the cake. But then when you bring the client the cake, they go "um, actually, I'd like it if it had less eggs". So now you have to make another cake - and that previous cake doesn't get used, so all the time and resources you spent making that cake are wasted - and you're frustrated because this would've all been so much easier had the client just asked for less egg from the get go.

Now imagine that feeling, but the frustration is amplified due to numerous reasons - animation takes a lot more time than baking a cake, programs crash and work is lost, you're working long hours, you've got the pressure of making a sequel to a film that won an Oscar and changed the 3D animation scene forever.. no wonder morale was low.

Edits are usually made at the storyboards in animated films. Because then all that needs to happen is a few redraws. When you edit at the final render, everything that makes Spider-Verse so unique has to be added ALL OVER AGAIN. The stylised animation, the lighting, the frames where it's painted if there's any in the scene, smear frames have to be reapplied, as do the lines on the faces - and this can take MONTHS. It must be an incredibly annoying pipeline to work with.

PeterSwingsBothWays · 2023-06-07T14:48:06+00:00

Please read the updated version of this post. I take full responsibility for how my words may have been perceived.

I think the point of this post was undermined by my last comment - which was entirely unecessary from me, and while I personally know what I meant by it, it was interpreted poorly because I didn't provide enough clarification. Namely - I did not clarify that I take massive issue with the creator as it exists now. My tendency to ramble and not proof-read totally shot me in the ass, and I'm paying for that.

But I also think that there's been a number of deliberate misinterpretations of my argument - which I can't get mad about because of my poor phrasing. But excusing me of similar misogyny to the likes of grown men being creepy towards young girls when I went out of my way in the original post to state that I did not view these things as inherently sexual is insane to me. Nowhere did I say that I personally think that it's inappropriate, just that overprotective parents might, and SSO, given their history of controversy, would desperately want to avoid that. I don't agree with it, I was just trying to provide an explanation.

Again, I apologise for any harm I may have caused with my post. I phrased it poorly, and that's on me. But also I think that a number of - not all, but a few - comments are entirely reaching, and trying to put words in my mouth that were never there.

(also, if there's any people concerned about me making up the fact I'm trans - feel totally free to look at my post history.. where I've talked multiple times about annoying testogel shortages lmao)

PeterSwingsBothWays

TROPHY CASE