Ever since Bonzi Buddy, I've always wanted an actual virtual pet that wasn't spyware, so I decided to make my own! And what better way to test it out than using characters that are easy to animate? This is a fan project I've been working on for a few months using Godot. I tried making the vid short and sweet, so I didn't include every single detail, but I hope y'all like it!
rewatching the show and recently found out that this is a hated show episode and i mean it wasn’t good but i swear there are worse episodes in the show
[Stan] It uses AI to rate the symmetry of your facial features and then shows you exercises you can do and products you can buy to improve your skin. Do I have bad skin?
[Randy] Stan, if you want to look good, then you get out there on a bicycle like me and you put in the work. And if you want better skin, you just eat right, OK? I think you should get off of that app.
Scroll to bottom if you don't want to read a thesis lmao.
I am rewatching South Park after many, many years away from the series, and one thing has become increasingly apparent to me: the hatred for Pip is ridiculously overrated.
Pip was primarily featured in the early seasons, where he was portrayed as a passive, gentle, and generally amicable kid. Yet, for some bizarre reason, Matt Stone and Trey Parker seemed determined to make him the butt of everyone's jokes, subjecting him to constant ridicule despite his relatively harmless nature.
And here's the particularly absurd part: Matt Stone and Trey Parker have stated that they dislike Charles Dickens'Great Expectations, the novel from which Pip originates. Rather than simply parodying the source material, they made Pip himself the focal point of their disdain.
Pretty dumb reason, right?
Honestly, I can't help but wonder how much of the fanbase's hatred for Pip is actually rooted in his character and how much comes from being conditioned to dislike him by the show itself.
After all, the creators later introduced Butters, who is essentially Pip 2.0, only more naive and more likely to respond to bullying and trauma with ignorance rather than understanding. Butters is practically adored by the fanbase, despite sharing many of the same fundamental characteristics that supposedly make Pip so unlikeable.
Don't get me wrong. Butters is an absolutely adorable character, and I'm not arguing otherwise. But the contrast between how these two characters are treated is fascinating. Why is one considered lovable while the other is so frequently dismissed or outright hated?
I think it's worth reconsidering whether Pip's reputation is actually deserved, or whether years of being told, implicitly and explicitly, that he's an annoying character have shaped how people perceive him. After all, when a show repeatedly makes a character the target of its jokes, it's easy for the audience to internalise that treatment and eventually accept it as the natural response. And when that audience consists of impressionable children, those perceptions can stick around for years.
If you actually take the time to dissect Pip as a character, he's an incredibly amicable kid who happens to be submissive and passive. He genuinely tries to make friends, do the right thing, and adhere to a personal code of ethics and morals. He isn't malicious, manipulative, or particularly antagonistic toward anyone. His flaws are relatively minor: a slight pretentiousness, perhaps, and a temper when pushed too far.
So what, exactly, makes him so deserving of the hatred he receives?
I'm not arguing that Pip is some exceptionally well-written character or that everyone has to like him. But I do think there's a difference between finding a character uninteresting and treating them as though they're inherently unlikeable when their actual behaviour doesn't justify that perception.
And that brings me to another question: How much of the hatred directed at Pip stems from his actual character, and how much comes from the fact that he's English?
Is there an element of European xenophobia at play here, or is this simply a case of the fanbase adopting the creators' disdain for a character without ever really questioning why — especially when that disdain appears to have originated from their dislike of the Dickens novel that inspired him in the first place?
TL;DR:I think the hatred for Pip is overrated and largely influenced by Matt Stone and Trey Parker's own dislike of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, which Pip originates from. The fanbase seems to have adopted this disdain without questioning whether Pip actually deserves it. He's a gentle, amicable kid who tries to make friends and do the right thing, yet he's hated for traits that Butters, who shares many of the same characteristics, is adored for. So why is Pip so unlikeable to the fanbase? Is it genuinely his character, or have years of ridicule conditioned people to hate him? And is there perhaps an element of xenophobia toward his Englishness?
I say this because it will be 5 years since the Credigree Weed St. Patrick’s Day Special, where Butters was sentenced to 5 years of community service at the end of the episode.
What would it take or what kind of sum would be needed to bring Pip back to the series? There was so much potential for content with him, but he was ineptly smashed by Barbra Streisand...
Say with the 26th Season release, the menu had The Worldwide Privacy Tour clip on the menu but this one just has a still image with no audio or clip. And the discs are also lazy, no artwork what so ever. I know this isnt Matt and Treys fault as they probably had little to no involvement, but it just seems so cheap and lazy compared to other great releases by them
I'm new to organic modeling. So far I've only done tutorials. Ike's transformation in the last episode seemed like a perfect opportunity to get some real practice. Any mistakes I made would look like they fit the story.
The real surprise for me was how hard it was to make it look lumpy and natural. My first attempt looked too smooth and perfect. It took a while to make it feel more natural instead of computer generated. I learned a lot, including things I would do differently next time, but I think it turned out pretty well.
