Sunni Rashad

Sunni Rashad

She/They Black Queer writer currently living abroad. Working on games and making art.

Correspondent II

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  • Articles
    22
  • Featured
    14
  • Comments
    290
  • Ext. Comments
    124
  • Processed
    179
  • Revisions
    142
  • Topics
    44
  • Topics Taken
    12
  • Notes
    44
  • Topics Proc.
    248
  • Topics Rev.
    119
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    9
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    4703

    Latest Articles

    Latest Topics

    2

    Eva and the Rebuilds

    Analyse the current state of the canon between Eva and it's rebuild. Compare the emotional highlights from the first anime with their analogs in the rebuilds and what the variations between the two mean for the story.

    Analyze the characters and how they're different between the rebuild and the original series.

    Highlighting the differences not just in the emotional state of the author but in the conceptualization of the story after having been finished once and now finished again.

    • Maybe give a background story - is this from a book or film, and who is Eva? – Laurika Nxumalo 1 week ago
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    • Eva is Neon Genesis Evangelion, one of the most notable anime in the history of media. It is a defining work of the Mecha genre. – Sunni Rashad 6 days ago
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    Pokemon and the nature of mythology

    Pokémon has always had a close relationship with lore communities because of the nature of the Pokemon world being just that, a world. A fictional world, with its own quirks and stories and legends different than but somewhat inspired by real-world folklore.

    Mythology within the world of Pokemon serves not only as a main pathway for lore to be shared with fans. It also allows for the world to be explored within the views of the inhabitants. Mythology gives the characterization of the world. That said, mythology within Pokemon has always been contentious with regard to the subject matters addressed and the consequences of said stories.

    While many don't have much to say about the myriad stories of the legendary Pokemon, that is the Pokemon that are deemed more powerful and rarer than most, other stories such as the Sinnoh myth of how people used to marry Pokemon were seen and received much more hostility and revulsion

    With that in mind, however, in 2024 there was a leak of unprecedented scale of unreleased files about the creation of various Pokemon, their regions, and the lore surrounding both. Because of the leak, the function of mythology within the Pokemon world has come into question again because of the especially controversial nature of some of the stories.

    With some clear parallels to Greek and old Japanese folklore of gods and spirits seducing mortals, there was a severe backlash and revulsion.

    The general reception to the myths about certain Pokémon raises the question of what is the function of mythology in the games. And even if a myth isn't "canon" for a universe what role does it play in shaping its world and what does it say about the world that was being created?

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    There Will Be Brawl: The Nature of Parody

    There Will Be Brawl is a 2009 parody based on the video game Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A contentious game in its franchise, this web series has little overlap with the game it's inspired by or the movie There Will Be Blood.

    It's a detective noir where Luigi takes center stage trying to piece together the mysterious deaths of various video game icons.

    Its legacy is that many of its stars, from Matt Mercer as Ganon to Kyle Herbert, have gone on to bigger and better things.

    But the writer should seek to explore what did this story of a gritty Mushroom Kingdom say about the world of 2009 and more than that what if anything can be gleaned from it over a decade later?

    • The writer could also examine how There Will Be Brawl reflects 2009’s cultural anxieties—economic instability, political distrust, and moral ambiguity—and whether its darker take on nostalgia still resonates in today’s era of reboots and reinterpretations.Don't you think? ;) – Beatrix Kondo 2 weeks ago
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    Published

    Understanding Death of the Author

    "The Death of the Author" is the title of an essay literary critic and theorist Roland Barthes.

    The term itself has been argued to mean that the work should be judged wholly on its own merits despite problematic origins. But, was that the intent of the framework or is it a post hoc justification for supporting creators (and thus their creations) who would otherwise be maligned?

    With regards to fandom, how much can be said to be justified under this framework and as consumers should there be a limit to where and how this framework is used as a defense?

    • I recently studied this essay in my class on Contemporary – thalamouawad 2 years ago
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    • I recently studied this essay in my class on Contemporary Writing by Women. I think that Barthes' essay can be juxtaposed effectively with Nancy K Miller's "Changing the subject". It counters Barthes' work by stating that this dismissal of individual identity can be interpreted as a hegemonic tool used to deemphasize the stance of minority writing. – thalamouawad 2 years ago
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    • Another point for reference: novelist John Green has publicly subscribed to the Death of the Author philosophy, saying "authorial intent doesn't matter"; how readers interpret metaphors, he says, is as important or more important than what the author was thinking when he wrote them. This makes reading Green's books, like Paper Towns and The Fault in our Stars, which are stuffed full of metaphorical imagery, quite interesting. Paper Towns, in particular, is about imagining people as multifaceted instead of seeing them as metaphors - but if authorial intent doesn't matter, should we accept our superficial impressions as accurate? – noahspud 2 years ago
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    • Barthes argues that once a text is created and released into the world, it no longer belongs to the author. In other words, the meaning of a text is not tied to the author’s personal intentions, experiences, or background. The text becomes an autonomous entity, open to interpretation by any reader. – MehdiYousefi 3 weeks ago
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    2

    Skyrim and the Tragedy of the Snow Elves

    Skyrim has a video game has a reputation longer it seems than any and it's franchise and more dominant than most in its genre.

    Despite its release over a decade ago it's still stands as one of the most popular RPGs to this day.

    With that in mind it also has a very immersive and expansive world and within that world there is an innumerable mass of stories and legends.

    One such tragedy is the story of what happened to the snow elves also known as the Falmer.

    According to the law of the game the snow elves were a people that existed before Mankind and the land of Skyrim and through Conquest or retaliation the humans that settled the area eradicated them forcing them to join forces with the Lost race of dwarves that exist in the universe of Elder Scrolls and becoming cursed to be a fallen race of Mer or elf.

    The author can use the lore from previous games they can use the lore from the Elder Scrolls Online they can explore the nature of existence for a species of people who seemingly don't exist anymore within the world that they used to.

    Their story is called the tragedy of the snow elves and so one must ask was it a tragedy and Who Weeps for them?

      2

      Depression Quest: 10 years later

      Depression Quest in 2013 is a Twine engine game made by Zoe Quinn. The game / interactive fiction
      dealt with the difficulties of living with depression. Although, it was praised by the more mainstream gaming media for its depiction of struggling with mental health, the game also sparked polarizing reactions, and became a focal point for the online culture was. It was particularly of note as a justification for the harassment campaign Gamergate in 2014.

      With that in mind the author can explore the value of the game as a game and delve into how did this game challenge traditional gaming norms at the time? What does its critical and consumer reception reveal about the the world of indie game development and the modern social media landscape?

      • My corrections didn't save. Depression Quest in 2013 is a Twine engine game made by Zoe Quinn. The game / interactive fiction dealt with the difficulties of living with depression. It simulated this by presenting the player with prompts and then restricting their possible answers. Although the more mainstream gaming media praised it for its depiction of struggling with mental health, the game also sparked polarizing reactions and became a focal point for the online culture wars. It was particularly of note as a justification for the harassment campaign Gamergate in 2014. With that in mind, the author can explore the value of the game "as a game" and delve into how did this game challenge traditional gaming norms at the time? What does its critical and consumer reception reveal about the world of indie game development and the modern social media landscape? – Sunni Rashad 2 months ago
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      1

      Eiken and the nature of bad anime

      Eiken (2003) is a two-episode OVA filled with all manner of slapstick and innuendo that on its face are immature and sophomoric but veer into grossly distasteful as the show continues. The question then is upon seeing this content who is it for and why does it exist?

      What was the mandate that called for the product and what can be gleaned from engaging with the material?

      This is not meant as something opposed to sex or depictions of sexuality, this is a question of the low quality and base manner of titillation that the show engages, though looking at the character designs and ages the author could also question what was the logic behind the creation of the characters and why were those the decisions the creators went with.

        1

        Does Nemesis say anything?

        Nemesis by Mark Millar is a comic that is centered on a sadistic and wealthy villain who systematically dismantles the lives of top law enforcement officers. With that context in mind, does this story actually say anything? That is to say, what does the violence and shock do for the plot and what the story hopes to communicate?

        How does Nemesis challenge traditional ideas about morality in the superhero genre, and what might this say about our cultural fascination with anti-heroes? In what ways does the depiction of wealth as a tool for chaos reflect or critique societal power dynamics today? Does the comic’s shock-value storytelling serve to deepen its critique of heroism, or does it undermine its long-term impact on the genre?

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          Latest Comments

          Sunni Rashad

          It is a good movie. Personally, a fan of Mortal Remains and the titular vignette.

          "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" and the nature of Death
          Sunni Rashad

          Hey there, I hadn’t seen any analysis of it being humorous. That sounds pretty harsh. As far as ableism, I see the argument but at the same time, I’m not so sure about it. It’s a story about a disabled person who is the meal ticket for a presumably abled-bodied / neurotypical person. It doesn’t attach morality to the disabled person. Still, it does objectify him as strictly a meal ticket for someone but is that ableist in a morality tale about selling your companion for a quick buck?

          "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs" and the nature of Death
          Sunni Rashad

          Jim, go touch grass.

          Disney, The Little Mermaid, and the Politics of “Woke” in a Polarized World
          Blue Gender: Pop Eco-Facism
          Sunni Rashad

          I only write bangers tbh sis.

          Eugenics in Pop Culture: Madden
          Eugenics in Pop Culture: Madden
          Sunni Rashad

          “Now this isn’t to bemoan Madden. It would be hard to argue that Madden is intentionally eugenicist propaganda. Madden isn’t saying, “Hey if you are not born of a good father and mother you should not be an NFL player.” That is not what is meant by this article. Instead, it is to look at how easily eugenicist ideology infiltrates popular media and popular culture.”

          Eugenics in Pop Culture: Madden
          Politics in the BioShock Franchise