Behold! My pinned post!
I'm into stuff like Pacific Rim (mostly the first movie and its tie-in texts, because Uprising and The Black are not good), Final Fantasy 7, and other works with similar vibes. I'm a big fan of subtext, allegory, rich worldbuilding, and funky monsters.
(I'm a Newmann shipper but I'm also Vanessa Gottlieb's number one defender. I've debunked the conspiracy theories about her being a trophy wife made up to no-homo Newmann over here.)
I lean toward looking at media from a holistic, "what's the narrative saying?" point of view. I'm not a fan of approaching issues/possible issues in a story like an Evangelical pastor doing Bible apologetics in this context. Headcanons/mind caulk are wonderful for personal media enjoyment and transformative works, but terrible for meaningful media analysis.
I'm not a fan of reading every text as if it's written as a moral tract where we're supposed to agree with the protagonist or an obvious figure of authority. Some media is written like that. A lot of media isn't. Determining what a text is saying is more about examining the conclusions validated by the narratives than what the characters say and do.
Also if you project western Christian dualism onto stories written without that perspective (for example, the works of Guillermo del Toro or the Final Fantasy series), you're going to come away with a wonky reading, just saying.
Why I don't like Pacific Rim: Uprising or Pacific Rim: The Black (warning: very angry rants)
Pacific Rim Uprising Is Bad, And This Is Why
Pacific Rim: The Black Is Bad, And This Is Why
Toys, goodies, & resources for you
Startracks Solo RPG Engine & Writing Assistant
Free Oracle Systems For Solo Roleplaying
Archive of lore developed during the production of the first Pacific Rim film (there's so much cool stuff in here, you have no idea)
Pacific Rim themed generator tables
Generator tables for wacky wizard adventures
How to leave the Harry Potter fandom (or any fandom) when you're really attached to it
Everything in the #critical thinking tag
Everything in the #redemption tag
How to write that thing you don't know how to write
Research!!! See this page on how to research and see this page on how to evaluate sources.
Pro tip: Make a habit of listening to free online lectures and deep dives so you already have the information you need before you want to write about it!
How to quickly improve your media analysis skills:
Read Improve Your Media Literacy: Sometimes It's Unrealistic On Purpose.
Read my list of literary analysis questions.
Go to DuckDuckGo and search for "literary analysis questions."
Watch these videos:
The Ideology of Apocalypse (feat. Mad Max, Fallout New Vegas, Gurren Lagann & more)
The Christmas Shoes: The Fever Dream of Capitalism
Why Do You Always Kill Gods in JRPGs?
Media Literacy is DEAD: Attack on Titan is Still F*scist
Why Are There So Many Confederate Vampires?
Monsters 101: Monstrosity vs. Humanity
Please don't only watch these videos! There are many more good videos like this and the more you watch, the better your skills will get!

























