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#I really like adoptive oddball family stories okay
narcissistcookbook · 6 months
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okay......anime. I'm sending a lot because I'm not entirely sure what you like? perhaps none of these? please ignore it as needed haha I am mainly getting it out of my system.
SERIOUS FARE - drama, action, adrenaline, feelings
Cowboy Bebop (1 Season, Complete) - slick, gritty, moody, jazzy, impeccably animated. neo-noir space-western about a crew of oddballs on a little spaceship just trying to get by. sometimes goofy, sometimes sad, always a favorite.
Chainsaw Man (1 Season So Far) - an impoverished, immature young man whose dreams include "eating some nice food" and "touching a girl" finds himself swept up in a career that allows him to do both those things and more, to varying degrees of satisfaction. also he can turn his body into chainsaws. it's coming-of-age it's horror it's action it's more found family it's good.
Violet Evergarden (1 Season, Complete) - some controversial choices were made for the adjacent movie, but the show is so good even standing alone. a traumatized child soldier slowly reconnects with her emotions by writing letters for other people. that's basically the whole story. made me cry a lot.
THE FUNNY PAGES - for when you need a laugh!
Spy x Family (1 Season, 2nd Incoming) - a delightful situational comedy set in Definitely Not Cold War Germany about a spy, his cover wife whom he does not know is an assassin, and his adopted daughter whom he does not know is a psychic. featuring moments of genuinely compelling found family connection.
Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun (1 Season, Complete) - a girl summons the courage to confess to her crush. a series of misunderstandings ensues and doesn't stop ensuing. more mistaken identity goofiness, a cast full of charming dumbasses, and some insights into life as a manga artist. also another bangin theme song.
TOASTY'S TOP 3 - my absolute favorites
Vinland Saga (2 Seasons, 3rd Seemingly Confirmed) - you follow me so you are probably at least aware of this and whether it looks like something you'd enjoy but I have to include it. a viking-era tale of trauma, war, revenge, redemption, masculinity, religion, politics, philosophy, and more! season one is the prologue, where the antagonist is (imo) the secret main character. season two answers the unmitigated violence of season one with the povs of normal working people who end up as collateral damage, and also pays off one of season one's earliest setups in a huge fantastic way imo. it's idealistic without ever failing to acknowledge the pain that comes when idealism meets reality. I love it.
Run With the Wind (2 Seasons, Complete) - there aren't a whole lot of sports anime for older audiences, but this is one of them and I rewatch it on a yearly basis. you have to kind of slow yourself down for it--most shonen sports anime are brisk, high-octane fun-times, but this one (a college-age series about the most Underdog of Underdog Track Teams) really takes its time building up the characters and environment, and chemistry between the dual opposites-attract leads is so heartwrenchingly beautiful. they complete each other! they love each other! what does it mean to run? why do we run even if we know we can't win?! the answers to these things are found within each other!!
Mob Psycho 100 (3 Seasons, Complete) -slapstick, drama, mindblowing action scenes--this is another one that needs a little time to start showing you what it is, but there's so much heart in this dang show. a hymn to all things mundane and ordinary, a rumination on the dangers of suppressing one's emotions, a story about a middle schooler who tries not to use his Unlimited Psychic Powers and a fraud exorcist who pretends to have powers but doesn't. absolutely worth the watch.
BONUS LIGHTNING ROUND
Shirobako (a stressfully/excellently accurate anime about the anime industry, the only cute-girls-doing-cute-things show I like), Keep Your Hands off Eizouken (weird girls making amateur anime in high school), Blue Period (for if you want to have an existential crisis about ART), Kaiji (Squid Game before Squid Game), The Great Pretenders (Robin Hood-ass confidence artists pulling off HEISTS), Haikyuu (my favorite younger-audiences sports anime, get hype for VOLLEYBALL), Beastars (the Furry One, gorgeous 3d animation, dark and weird and wild), and Neon Genesis Evangelion (surreal horror sci-fi/fantasy, "mechs" vs. apocalyptic "angels", I haven't seen it but it's a standard and also I've been told not to watch it while depressed)
ANYWAY thanks for receiving this absolute infodump, do what you will with it!!
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okay but honestly i didn't know cowboy bebop was one and done, i can commit to that
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mandareeboo · 3 years
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I know everyone and their mom has made one but I’m considering a “Clan adopts a not-cat” story
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weirdestbooks · 3 years
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Secret States Chapter 2
State Shenanigans 
Delaware POV "Florida this is a horrible idea! Put the snake down!" Virginia yelled at our younger brother. Virginia's blue flag had a white circle which contained her coat of arms. She was dressed in a black pencil skirt and a white dress shirt.
"NO! I don't have to listen to you! I'm older." Florida yelled back, bringing the Burmese python in his hands up higher into the air. Florida's flag was white, with a red cross, similar to the flag of Scotland. In the center of the red cross was the Florida state seal. Florida was wear a tropical patterned shirt with blue shorts and flip flops. He also wore a necklace with a Spanish dabloon in it, and an emerald earring.
Florida's pet were also grouped around his feet, stopping Virginia from marching over to him herself. He had a crocodile, an American alligator and a Florida panther.
"Florida you know we do birthdays by the day we joined as a state, or just the day we joined Dad in general. I don't care if you were technically born before me. Put. The. Snake. Down." Virginia yelled back.
"I FOUND OHIO!" Pennsylvania yelled over to us. Her flag was blue with the Pennsylvania state of arms. She was wearing a black dress and black boots.
"Oh thank god." I muttered to myself. Ohio and Florida were both oddball states and while putting them together was almost never a good idea, Ohio could normally talk Florida out of a bad idea if Virginia and I couldn't.
"Flor! What are you doing?" Ohio yelled, marching over. His flag had red and white stripes like Dad, although there were only five of them, with the white stripes being bigger than the red. There was a blue triangle on the right side that held seventeen stars and a white circle with a red one inside. (This flag was so hard to describe)
Ohio was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and despite not wearing shoes he confidentially marched through Florida's pets.
"I was just going to release this python on the house. It's not that bad of an idea, mi hermano (my brother) Besides, whoever catches it gets to eat it." Florida stated, although I blanched in disgust. This sentiment was reflected in my siblings however.
"Flor, do you eat pythons?" Virginia asked.
"Sí! It's part of something I'm doing to get rid of the Burmese pythons in the Everglades." Florida said with a big smile on his face.
"Southerners are so weird." Pennsylvania said, rolling her eyes. I felt slight offense to that, even though I haven't been considered a southern states since the Civil War.
No. Don't think about that war. I thought to myself. That war was horrible and I shouldn't bring it up.
"Penny! What the fuck? I thought you were chill." Florida said, lowering the python.
"Oh come on, you guys deep fry every and you are a southern state Florida. You guys get the weird title." Pennsylvania explained. Florida rolled his eyes.
"Cierto (True), but you guys have Ohio." Florida responded, dropping his snake, causing Ohio to move out of the way before speaking up.
"What did I do to become an oddball state? I have no idea how I got classified as one."
"THE YANKEES ARE WAY FUCKING BETTER THAN THE RED SOCKS MASSHOLE!" I heard  New York yell from inside the house. I looked over to Virginia.
"Can you handle this? I'm going to break up New York and Massachusetts." I told her. Virginia nodded.
"Go handle that Del. I think the crisis here has been mostly avoided anyway." I nodded before running inside the four story house to find my idiot brothers. This was made easier by the curses and yelling.
"THE YANKEES SUCK YORK!" Massachusetts yelled, his Boston accent making his angry shouting harder to understand. I ran faster. Massachusetts and New York's fights can only be rivaled by Ohio and Michigan's.
"MASSACHUSETTS, NEW YORK. WHAT IS GOING ON! I CAN HEAR YOU FROM OUTSIDE!" I yelled at my arguing brothers as I marched over to them. New York just sipped his coffee and raised his brow while Massachusetts turned towards me. Recognizing the signs of one of Massachusetts' anger issued fueled explosions, I braced myself.
"YORK SAYS THAT THE RED SOCKS SUCK WHICH IS INCREDIBLY UNTRUE, THEN HE HAS THE INDECENCY TO CLAIM THAT THE YANKEES, THE GODDAMN YANKEES ARE BETTER!" Massachusetts yelled, his white face bearing his coat of arms showing pure anger.
"Not again. Guys can you keep the arguments about baseball for baseball season, not March." I told them, closing my eyes, and pinching my nose between my fingers.
"Sure, as long as Yorkie here doesn't spread untrue rumors about the Red Socks." Massachusetts said while crossing his arms. New York scowled in his coffee cup, narrowing his eyes.
"Don't call me Yorkie, Masshole." He said, standing up. "Besides I have better things to do than argue with the most stubborn state in the Union. Dag, broeders. (Bye, brothers)" He said, standing up and walking off.
"I can not stubborn Yorkie." Massachusetts hissed under his breath before turning to me. "Sorry Del. York just really pisses me off sometimes."
I sighed. "Understandable, but try and cut back on the arguing please. Ohio and Michigan are bad enough and you two are part of the Thirteen and should be way more mature than that. Nice shirt, by the way." I told him. Massachusetts blinked, then smiled pulling out his shirt, which read 'Proud Son of Liberty'.
"Thanks Del, but you should already know that I will take whatever chance I can to show off how important I was to the Revolution." He said.
Massachusetts was incredibly proud of his role in the Revolution, even if he wasn't alive and talked about it every chance we get. He was the one most sceptic about Dad and Grandpa fixing their relationship after World War 2, convinced that it was some "Limey bastard trick."
He's not going to take meeting our Grandfather well. He really should try and get over the Revolution. What's done is done and Dad and Grandpa already patched things up, along with our Great-Uncles. Why does he insist on holding this grudge?
Why does this family have to be so complicated?
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America POV
"What's up Liberia?" I asked my son as he took me aside. Liberia looked around before giving me a hug.
"My siblings kept me updated on what was going on. Dad, are you okay?" He asked me.
"I'm fine." I said.
Liar A voice in my head said. Liberia gave me a look.
"So you're not doing well?" He commented, raising an eyebrow. "I was an American colony Dad. I know 'I'm fine' doesn't mean that you're fine. Are you okay?"
I laughed, although it was a bit bitter.
"Am I ever?" I put my head in my hands. "Everyone puts so many expectations on me, and expects me to do everything for them, but I'm also trying to take care of my kids and keep them from killing each other. I just want a break."
"Dad, if you ever need help, you know you can always ask me and the other former territories."
I nodded, I wanted to, but I couldn't put that kind of pressure on them.
"But if you really wanted to show them that you are responsible..."
"No, Liberia." I aid cutting him off. I knew exactly where this conversation was going.
"Dad you can't keep the states secret forever." He insisted. I made an X with my arms.
"No way. I'm not going to let my children be targeted. You, Palau, Marshall and Micro can take care of yourself, but I get enough anxiety worrying about you guys. Even Philippines and Cuba. And Cuba hates me!" I told him.
"What about the states that are adopted? You should at least tell their families. You should at least tell our family." Liberia argued, throwing out his hands.
"No, just, not after the Civil War, not after World War 2. I'm not going to risk them being hurt." I said and turned around. "I'm sorry Liberia, but I can't."
Not after everything that happened. I can't let my children get hurt again.
Not after the Burning of Washington.
Not after the Civil War.
Not after the World Wars.
I can't let them get hurt.
Never again.
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Liberia POV
I know you don't want them getting hurt Dad.
But they can take care of themselves.
And their families deserve to know.
I hit a number in my phone.
"Hey Tex. Want to break into a UN meeting?"
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tiny-space-robot · 3 years
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Okay so Fire Emblem anon here!! Here's a Kinda Super Long Bc I Got Carried Away description of a few Fire Emblem games, plus some characters that seem like they hit tropes you like!
The good news is that there's not a super huge overarching timeline, there's several smaller timelines that are seperate from one another except for the crossover games. I'm gonna go with describing the newer ones that you're most likely to be able to get your hands on and play; a lot of people complain that they lean into some anime-tropey stuff and are too easy, but tbh, that's a perk just as often as it isn't. Basically, it's Game of Thrones, but rated T and with more cute girls and old men who are friendly instead of creepy.
Tbh, it's a turn-based strategy game with visual novel elements for characterization, if strategy games aren't your thing and you're just interested in the characters, watching the support conversations on Youtube might be more your thing. All the characterization, none of the resetting the same goshdang level thirty times. Anyways, description of the games in passing, including a brief description of the plot concept, pros and cons, trigger warnings, and some characters you might be interested in if you're just looking up characters.
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Awakening: for the 3DS. Follows Robin, an amnesiac mage, after they're found in a field by a band of knights called the Shepherds. Involves the undead, a twink in a mask, timey-wimey shenangians, and the usual cast of oddballs you'd expect from a Fire Emblem game.
Pros of Awakening: customizable player character, intro of Casual mode (turns off permadeath) and the Pair Up system, which lets you put characters together for shipping reasons strategy and stat boosts. Also doubles as a shipping simulator, since you can pair off characters and meet their later in the game due to said timey-wimey shenangians.
Cons of Awakening: there are some....very concerning combos of names/skin tones/plot relevance for certain characters, so go in with a warning about implicit racism. Also if you like strategy games, this game is relatively easy to break and make "too easy," but tbh that's what Lunatic Mode (the Ultra Unfair Hard Mode) is for.
Trigger warnings across the main plot: underhanded politics, attempted assassinations, martyrdom, an optional character is implied to stalk Robin but idk how to tag that, identity crises, conflicts within a family, character who isn't you looks like you, backstory child abuse, an optional character is a bad portrayal of DID if you squint?
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Fates: is actually a group name for two games set in the same universe, and a DLC bonus story: Birthright, Conquest, and Revelations. All for the 3DS. All three games star Corrin, a pacifist raised in seclusion in the kingdom of Nohr. Each game reflects a different path Corrin can take in navigating the war between the nations of Nohr and Hoshido: Birthright has them stand with Hoshido, Conquest with Nohr, and Revelations has them strike out (nearly) alone. Each path has a completely different storyline, cast of characters, and difficulty curve.
Pros of Fates: honestly, the characters here cater the most to the avid pro-shipper and multi-shipper. I just love this cast. Both Nohr and Hoshido have four members of the royal family you can play and get to know, each of those royal family members has two retainers who are various levels of dedicated and/or unhinged, and the cast just widens and widens. Also a character customization and shipping simulator point for the same reasons Awakening gets it. Also, canon fujoshi rights (there's a character with a skill called Daydream, which boosts her stats when two male characters are paired up near her. one of us, one of us). Also the first game with canon queer characters: both Rhajat and Niles are bi.
Cons of Fates: unfortunately, the writing is kinda rushed or badly translated in some places. Also *shakes IntSys* my lore! Give me more lore! Also, iirc, you could get both physical games in a bundle for a discount when they came out, but not anymore, so it's sorta like Pokemon with version exclusives. Which is less fun, since you can't directly trade characters. Also the fandom for this game is RIFE with discourse, which is kinda sad bc I just wanna talk my ships with ppl sjxhdjdn
Trigger warnings for Fates: child abuse might as well be Nohr's middle name, in-universe racism (since Hoshido is p obviously Japan-inspired, and a lot of Nohrians are rancid to Hoshidans), kidnapping, on-screen murder, lots of fighting your loved ones (on both main routes, you gotta fight the playable characters from the other side AAA), su-c-de, death of sibling(s) in certain routes, demonic-like possession, there's like six characters people can read as bad mental illness rep, Niles especially is discourse bait for being a kinky (yes that's canon) bi man of color but also he's awesome so die mad antis
*break for space*
Shadows of Valentia: for the 3DS. A remake of Gaiden, the second game in the series. Follows Alm, a farm boy from a small village in Zofia, and Celica, his childhood best friend. Zofia and the nation to its north, Rigel, are two nations ruled by the dragon gods Mila and Duma, respectively. Normally, they're in equilibrium, but Rigel is invading and Mila is missing, prompting Alm and Celica to independently investigate the problem.
Pros of SoV: the most like the old-school Fire Emblem games, but it also has the permadeath-off mode. also the first to be fully voice acted! The art style is gorgeous, and the plot was polished up from the old game--two characters names Berkut and Rinea were added, and they are PEAK OTP the diskhorse can die mad. Also the cast is pretty fun all around, from buddy squad and the older brother/dad figure they adopted along the way to "hello this is my gang of childhood friends, we're gonna kill a god" Also introduces Mila's Turnwheel, which lets you rewind your moves if you realize you goofed big time and screwed yourself over.
Cons of SoV: has the most references to other games, but you won't, like, be lost if you don't get them. You just might have a few interludes of "who tf is Camus/the White Wing Brigade/etc" but it's easy enough to look up on the wiki. Also tbh, the plot kinda drags in the middle, there's some filler battles to try and make it feel more realistic and it feels...weird. Also no custom character, you are Alm and Celica and you will Like It.
Trigger warnings for SoV: you know that thing where a girl character gets killed off for a guy character to angst over? the game starts with a fakeout version of that. also a character slowly goes mad over the course of the plot (but it's really well done imo?), there's some self-sacrifice stuff in there, classism is a major theme, possession/selling your soul™, there's a couple of levels where you're exploring tombs/prisons, I'm sure there's something else but I'm forgetting right now
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Three Houses: on the Switch. The newest game in the series, and the most polished imo? Stars Byleth, a wandering mercenary turned teacher at the Officer's Academy. The Academy, housed in Garreg Mach Monastery, teaches youths from across the land of Fodlan how to be warriors, commanders, and knights. Students are sorted into three houses based on their country of origin: the Black Eagles are from ghe Adrestian Empire, led by the heiress-apparent Edelgard; the Blue Lions are from the kingdom of Faerghus, led by prince Dimitri; and the Golden Deer are from the Leicester Alliance, led by Claude, grandson of the Duke. You choose one of these houses to lead, and then everything quickly goes sour.
Pros of Three Houses: It's such a rich experience! The music is incredible, there's so much lore, and you can wander around the Monastery and hang out with the students to your heart's content. Also, it's four storylines for the price of one, even if they're all relatively similar in the first half. It does a pretty solid job of weaving together its themes into a satisfying narrative that will make you consider everyone involved. Also we got our first bi main lord (Edelgard) and non-white main lord (Claude is mixed race) in one fell swoop! Also, given the setting, it's teacher/student ship heaven.
Cons of Three Houses: just gonna come right out and say it: one of the villainous factions in the game is pretty substantially tied up with some anti-semitic tropes. There's no way to ignore it, it's just bleh, and I'm not gonna send anyone in without that warning. Also, though there's some characters you can persuade to switch sides, or spare, there's no route where there's a happy ending for everyone. Also there are so many people who are fake deep about the themes of the game, so be ready for the worst takes imaginable about your faves. also super trigger heavy, see below.
Trigger warnings: MANY. Garreg Mach and the Church of Seiros are very reminiscent of catholic religious stuff, for anyone with religion triggers, blood in cutscenes, death of a parent, death of a sibling (different characters), major gaslighting vibes in some places, lots of people going unhinged, some white savior™ vibes in places, body horror, creepy ass weaponry, backstory genoc-de (mostly not related to the anti-semitism), blood magic (definitely related to the anti-semitism), in general it goes to a lot more effort than the other games to make you think about what's Actually going on, even if it doesn't always work.
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As for characters you'd like, if you just want to look some characters up, my recommendations based on what I understand about you include:
Awakening: Libra fits 'gnc man of the cloth' so well it's actually a conversation in game: "so what's a woman of the cloth doing here?" "...man, sir, man of the cloth." And Then He Never Gets Misgendered Again. Also Nowi's supports sometimes feel like a jab at antis-- she's a manakete, a person who can transform into a dragon. Manaketes also grow really slowly, as in "middle aged looking manaketes are like 1000 years old," so she's got major baby face and copes with being mistaken for a teenager by making jokes. Also Gregor, who she first appears with, is pretty fun--older mercenary with a thick accent who is like 80% here for a good time. Also Walhart, who's a villain but got some content added as DLC.
Fates: any interactions between Corrin, Leo, and/or Camilla are probably right up your alley--Camilla is obsessively protective over her siblings in a way that's Very Definitely Platonic™, and Leo also canonically has a crush on her in something that was cut in the English release. Also Gunther--once upon a time he was your classic knight in shining armor, now he's semi-retired, Corrin's personal guard, and covered in scars (and his voice is gorgeous too)
Echoes: my biased answer is to listen to every single line Ian Sinclair read for Berkut because he absolutely did NOT have to go that hard. My actual answer is to point you in the direction of the pegasus sisters Catria, Palla and Est, or maybe the older gentleman who's the head of the Priory, I forgot his name oops abbdbd. Also Clive is a devoted husband to one Mathilda, who looks just like an older version of his sister Clair 🤔
Three Houses: knowing you, you'd adore Hanneman--an older professor who's extremely passionate about his work, to the point where he tends to forget personal space and such. Also Seteth, like I mentioned before (join me in simping for him and his gorgeous pecs) and like, honestly, I know ppl make jokes about Alois but he's rlly good. Soft, awkward but he doesn't care, dad jokes everywhere. And also Mercedes, both because she's the biggest sweetheart imaginable and everyone should love her, but also bc she is just walking potential for the kinds of stuff you post on this blog. On one hand, she's the oldest student at the Academy and attached at the hip to one of the youngest, Annette (tho people act like they have a way bigger age gap then they actually do) and on the other hand, she has a long-lost half brother she can encounter (who I will not name for HUGE HUGE spoilers reasons) who she spends the rest of her life with in one of her endings. Heck, he has three possible endings total! Total!
Basically I brought the games up bc I'm used to being on the side of the fandom where everyone shoos anything uncomfortable under the rug, but there's so much material here that's being wasted I SWEAR
If you have any other questions I can send another anon? Your call! Thanks for hearing me out I love ur blog :3
OKAY!!! sorry for answering so late, but this ask was pretty much a BOOK (not that I´m complaining though! thank you so much! ;;u;;)
and from what I read here, I THINK if I´m going off on my first fire emblem adventure, I´ll try and pick up three houses if I get the chance! I have read your trigger warnings (thank you so much! ;u;) and I think I can take it! >:3
again though, I am really, really not a fan of anime and the anime artstyle in general (blergh! XP) so I´m not sure how I´ll cope with that in particular, but then again, an artstyle does not make a game! u3u
AND HANNEMAN SOUNDS LIKE A WINNER TO ME!! I looked him up and OOOF!!! he may not have NEARLY as many wrinkles as I´d like him to have, but the facial hair is definitely a step in the right direction! ;3c
NOW YOU GOT ME INTERESTED!! 
LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
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thelittlestspider · 4 years
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what’s paper heart about? also curious about th characters/general aesthetic
this might be kind of long so i’m gonna put it behind a cut. also sorry for all these run on sentences lol. 
rn this is what i have on my page as far as a little blurb and the warnings (the summary/warnings are gonna change as the fic progresses, so this is just like a general list of what is currently in the fic as it stands):
in a word: prequel to The Next Three Days. violet and carter are two supersoldiers abandoned by their enigmatic teammate in a small town after a fire is set to the facility that trained, kidnapped, tortured, experimented on, brainwashed, raised them. but after settling in the seemingly idyllic town, they learn the town may be haunted by more than just ghosts.
[warning(s): fire, car crash, implied rape/sexual assault, abuse, torture, murder, sex, ghosts, mentioned demons, unhealthy relationships, violence, disturbing imagery, sexual harassment, gaslighting, emotional abuse, domestic violence, self-harm via sex, victim blaming, the criminal justice system is broken.]
okay so having gotten that out of the way, now i can actually talk about it and why i’m so obsessed about it. 
💔 originally paper heart was a character exercise to develop carter for The Next Three Days, which is a three part fic about these two guys named carter and matteo who end up facing off against a demon in a hotel, ending with carter being possessed and matteo waking up alone. but the more i kept writing about it the more the story grew, more settings popped up, the backstory got more complicated. i ended up connecting it with my other wip Defect, which is about supersoldiers escaping a facility and trying to adjust to civilian life while dealing with all the terrible things that happened to them. 
💔 violet and carter get rescued from the fire set to the facility, dropped off in salvation, and left there. they eventually get adopted by a wealthy gothic family (the roses) who live in a haunted house at the edge of town after violet tries to steal from them. they recognize that they need help, so they’re like “okay, chill here until you’re 18, then decide what you want to do.” 
they meet a couple of other kids named tiffany and nina whose parents are friends with the roses. tiffany is a psychic who investigates haunted places, looking for her parents’ spirits after they died in a car crash a few years earlier. nina is a closeted lesbian in a toxic, abusive relationship with a rich guy named kyle whose family is unofficially linked with a bunch of murders in town. 
eventually carter and nina start following tiffany on her investigations, at first out of concern for her safety, then bc they genuinely like looking for paranormal shit. they’re sort of like the scooby gang of salvation. except worse off. they’re also considered kind of the oddballs in town? so this weird intersection of interests combined with social ostracism brings them together and they become friends. 
a few years later a bunch of spoilery stuff happens involving kyle’s family and carter’s ex, he dies, they find out kyle’s family’s old house is haunted bc of all the people murdered/buried on the grounds. the ghosts hurt/scare nina to drive her out of the house so they can get revenge on kyle’s family. nina leaves kyle to go live with her parents and to pick up the pieces of her life. eventually she starts dating violet and tiffany and things get a lot better for her. 
💔ph is roughly planned out up to six parts right now. the idea was that it would be 10 parts to cover 10 years of violet and carter’s slow deterioration of their relationship until their breakup. with the way things are going it’s probably going to be compressed to less than 10 parts. 
💔 it’s never directly stated but the setting is post-post-post apocalyptic. it’s also never stated what kind of apocalyptic event it was. through the years i kept changing it; one time it was a disease that wiped out half the population, another time it was a war, another time it was a supernatural apocalypse. now i just think it’s fun to leave it up to people’s imaginations. like *ryan bergara voice* “now, lets get into the theories...”
i made a joke the other day that eventually the worldbuilding is gonna go full au lol. 
💔 ph’s aesthetic is a garden next to a graveyard marked by rough wooden crosses. ravenous undead creeping through the ruins of a burned out town. blood raining from the sky. a hospital converted to a prison with bars on the windows. shadowy figures watching from the woods. a theater with red curtains and gold accents. a black victorian house with a black iron fence next to a graveyard. old towns lost to time filled with ghosts from some unnamed tragedy. masquerade balls. a staticky radio playing a pop song as a voice whispers, Get out. a pink 50s style diner with green booths and stools. a dark arcade with neon lights flashing. 
the fashion aesthetic is sort of a weird mix of present fashion meets period clothing meets futuristic. i wanted it to be obvious there’s a class divide between rich people and poor people, but i also didn’t quite want to go full hunger games on it. it’s a very fine line. the discrepancy is even more stark in the cities bc the rich are basically bleeding the life from people living in poverty. 
💔 genre-wise i’m not really sure how to classify it. i classify it as horror, but it has elements of mystery, drama, and romance. maybe some rural gothic/texas gothic overtones in there. 
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ofcelesticls · 5 years
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greetings earthlings !! it’s ur resident space mom, saoirse, here and holy FUCK dudes am i JAZZED to be posting this rn !! i’m #blessed….. #honored….. #grateful….. wow. without further ado, i present u all with my dear, darling, dumbass daughter…… KIKI !!
this is going to be less of a bio and more of me popping off abt lucy SO if u want to read an actually cohesive bio go ahead and click HERE !! she also has a stats page HERE if thats the kinda thing ur into !! otherwise… lets go stupid (ahhh) go crazy (ahhh)
welcome to kiki’s delivery service
my MFN WOMAN….. ˚ * ☆ – KIBBY KIKI KIBLER – ☆ * ˚ …. where to begin i dont even KNOW but i will say that this girl? is my queen. the loml. she’s lowkey actually me so i’m biased but i?? love her.
okay. SO. she’s kind of a hardass. there! i said it! she is! but it’s not really her fault! let us dive right on in and see why she is the way she is
so first things first she was adopted and like its never been a secret or something she doesnt talk abt so basically everyone most likely knows all about that if theyre close to her! she tried rly hard in high school to try and find her birth parents ( using her skills she gathered through copious hours spent watching true crime documentaries ) and came up short so that kind of made her like :/
shes super super close w her adopted family though! she’s been with them since she was a baby so like... there’s nothing WRONG w that family dynamic
when she was a lil tiny one her best friend was her grandma who was like…. a super oddball lady and always told crazy stories about ghosts and sprites and fairies and all that stuff but kiki absolutely LOVED it. her parents eventually had her grandma move into a retirement home type of deal when she got rly old and senile and that was super hard on her… which leads into my next point !!
another big thing that defined her life is that she was a SELECTIVE MUTE which developed when she started kindergarten ( which was also the school yr after her grandma left ) and she finally overcame thru therapy around the time she was in fifth grade.
it was through an assignment from her therapist that she and daisey first “spoke” bc in second grade she was still terrible at speaking to other kids n her therapist suggested she tried to write a letter instead as a sort of first step to ease into  things! she didn’t expect for daisey to write back but she did!! and they became “friends” for a while but that ended after fifth grade
once she overcame her anxiety she rly started to FLOURISH as the beautiful little weirdo that she is !! words literally cannot even explain to u what kind of strange this little duck is but she’s also perfect and the only one allowed to insult her is ME.
but then... yknow..... middle school n high school happened and kids are MEAN. so sad. she could talk but she often didn’t because everyone looked at her like she was crazy and she ended up being... more on the outside of things than on the inside.
but also she’s so genuinely good even though she can come across as rly….. brash…. she’s not MEAN but she just doesn’t have the time or the energy to bullshit around with anyone. she’s gonna call it like she sees it and anyone who doesn’t?? on her shit list.
also, by default, she’s not a very trusting person so???? ur gonna be likely to see the more Aloof and Quiet kiki than anything else UNLESS youve proven to her that she can open up to you!
but BE WARNED. if u wrong her.... WHEW, it’s game over! good luck EVER getting her to open back up to you again!
also don’t underestimate her intelligence. don’t do it. ppl try to brush her off as an airhead or an idiot bc she’s….. the way she is…. and says shit abt the prophetic dreams she receives... but she’s also honestly so smart and will go off on u in a HEARTBEAT abt systematic oppression or psychology or politics bc she’s a criminal justice major & psych minor
she loves astrology and so do i so i gave her my bday so that we could have some of the same signs in our natal charts… since she’s literally…. me. ANYWAY. she’s a cancer sun, scorpio moon & libra rising !! which makes her a fundamentally emotional person…. she’s got those water signs across the board INCLUDING her mercury in cancer (which i can best describe as sighing being her preferred mode of communication)
she’s also a big time SLYTHERIN and that’s that on that! thank u!
 i .... don’t have the brain power to think abt wanted plots at the moment but u BET ur BOTTOM i will dwell on it and have some kinda something up tmrw!! but UNTIL THEN !! pls message me (either on here or on discord though i will say discord is preferred) and we can chit chat it out and maybe start to brainstorm some things!!
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pyreo · 6 years
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Fixing Incredibles 2: stuff I would do
Hey wanna hear some thoughts on what I’d do to tune up a movie I found slightly disappointing? There’s three main aspects I want to deal with which are
1. badly utilised new supers 2. iffy villain motivation 3. third act was a mess
So here’s a few things I’d wanna do to rework some of that
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So first off, that’s a lie, there’s really 5 things that bothered me. this should not have been an immediate sequel where no time had passed. they actually had to backtrack on the character development from the first movie to have them do the same character arcs again. Helen’s back on wanting her kids to stay away from dangerous heroics. Violet’s reward for learning to assert herself, a date with Tony, is erased and she has to win him all over again. Bob, in a weird 180 from his first portrayal where he adored spending time with Violet and Dash during his training montage... suddenly struggles with caring for them, though that’s mostly the fault of Jack-Jack’s powers manifesting. 
So firstly, I’d do what I always imagined the sequel would be and push it a few years forward. Allow it room to change. Have Violet be a college student with Tony as her longterm boyfriend. Have Dash be a teen who’s still eager to save the world, but needing to learn that no danger is better than stopping danger. And make Jack-Jack a child, still in need of supervision but not a total cartoonish liability who necessitates long sequences of adjustment to discovering his powers, again, a retread we already saw last time. Every character arc was a re-do and the constant burden of dealing with Jack-Jack really slowed stuff down. (this was my 5th thing) Fix this by skipping forward. (Also, Violet’s hero moment being... learning that she has to set personal glory aside and babysit Jack-Jack while everyone else does stuff? Are you kidding me?)
We now have a different angle on Helen’s worries - she’s not just concerned about putting her kids in danger. She acts like it, she tells them not to start jumping at the chance to get into heroism. She tells them to apply themselves in school and get normal lives too, in case it doesn’t pan out. But this feels familiar, because it’s what she said in the first movie, and it’s a front. She’s worried about her kids growing up, becoming adults - Violet basically is one - and how she can’t protect them if they move out. She pretends it’s about their powers to cover this. This also refocuses the movie’s main character arc onto Helen like it’s... supposed to be, instead of putting it on Bob’s learning to parent and accept his wife’s super- importance, because despite being framed as Elastigirl’s time to shine, it’s not her story when she doesn’t embody a change of character. It’s still Bob. 
So, those things established:
1. Better villain ideology
Revenge because supers failed to save your parents? Basic. Also not that believable, because the reason the heroes failed to answer Daddy Business’s call is that they’d been outlawed and given new lives as normal people. They could not have come to the rescue; it was illegal. And a superhero enthusiast would have known that. And, hey, ‘criminals shot our dad and then our mother died afterwards of a broken heart’? Are you kidding me? Just have them both get shot, fuck it. Stop this ‘women dying because their man tragically died’ shit. It’s getting melodramatic at that point. 
No criminals, no revenge stuff. Have the Deavor’s parents die when they were in early teens. The brother and sister had to support each other as they started to navigate adulthood. This instilled in them the philosophy that’s common to the type of silicon valley startup wizards they parody - that anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and be hugely successful if they try hard, having come from orphans near poverty to multimillionaires. 
I want both of them, brother and sister, to be the villains together. You don’t really need to twist that. They both come off as helpful fans who want to put their money to use helping supers get back in the game. After all the biggest complaint keeping supers illegal is the property damage and lawsuits, and what fixes that? Money. They also both believe, as is Evelyn’s motivation for real, that superheroes are actually causing the public to develop dependency on them. 
I would set up the siblings as advocates of Randian objectivism in how they work. They think everyone can go from nothing to having everything. They think it’s a personal imperitive to be hard working, to contribute and make yourself a success, without relying on others. They think needing a safety net - superheroes, as a metaphor for social facilities - is a weakness that stops people from taking responsibility for themselves. I want to downplay the ‘tech company who makes tiny cameras’ thing, because that was far too modern day to fit in the 60s, and make it more about sheer money generation and the ability for the siblings to pay off debts and influence public opinion; essentially, that money can get you anything, glossing over the corrupt nature of that by claiming it’s doing the right thing to help the heroes. 
Winston still had a childlike adoration for supers as a kid, but it was killed when he grew up without parents who couldn’t BE saved, followed by extremely hard work in the financial sector, dealing with stress, and realising that he worked just as hard, but got no media acclaim, as people who just happen to have been born with powers. Both siblings invest in personal security solutions, aiming to eventually reveal a plan to put superheroes out of business by outpacing them with technology. To use the free market to provide ways that normal people can protect themselves, without becoming complacent, relying on dubious, flawed heroes, without becoming blind to danger because they expect to be saved. Their evil motto is basically ‘don’t expect anyone to save you’, putting the burden of responsibility on the individual to take care of themselves and be solely in charge of their success or failure. 
The superheroes, of course, represent altruism, saving people just because they can, just because they were given an ability and can use it to help anyone and anyone they wish. Making no judgements between rich or poor, personal backgrounds, social class... everyone can be saved just the same. 
The villains intend to gain the trust of the three main heroes - Mr Incredible, Elastigirl and Frozone - and push them into good public opinion by funding everything they do or break. Destruction is paid for, claims are settled. Heroes shouldn’t have to worry about it, they say. What they actually intend is for the heroes to become dependent on their company for money, just as they see the public growing dependent on supers instead of taking steps to protect themselves. They will set up a huge, climactic battle in the most expensive part of the city, after the heroes have been encouraged to ignore the financial cost to their feats. Then they’ll withdraw support, burying the trio in horrific debt to a level they cannot recover from, while also pushing a new line of tech solutions to make money off people’s protection. Technically, they want to help people, but they need to make sure the legal battle for supers will finally crush them out of work so they can get the maximum profit from their products. 
2. More cohesive new super team
It’s not that they were bad, I just felt it was jarring after the profiles Syndrome kept on his targets - all supers were completely normal people who happened to have abilities. The new guys were okay, but felt like oddball ideas and out-of-place mutants (the whole point is that supers are being pushed into normal lives and hiding their innate abilities. I dunno how you do that as an owl-man). I would make all the new guys young adults and teenagers. 
One, to point out the reality of the situation with supers. The new blood is going to be young. After what Syndrome did, nearly all adult heroes have been killed. I want to point out that, in order to bring back the idea of superheroism, we have to acknowledge that the ones who are going to do that are a generation down. Elastigirl meets them (we’re keeping Voyd obviously, but they’re all nervous youngsters like her, 15-22 ish). Elastigirl get confronted by her protective instinct - legalising supers means all of these kids going into danger. But, through talking with them, she realises how much it means to them, not having to hide who they are. They’re all like Voyd is. They were all shunned, pushed away, and ultimately hid their powers while feeling like absolute shit for being abnormal. There is a very clear real life allegory here. Helen realises that legalising supers isn’t just about throwing yourself into danger. It’s about allowing people to be who they are, and not shame them for something out of their control. They’re unpractised, they’re ashamed of showing their powers to her, and Helen mentally adopts every single one of them instantly. 
Helen gets a montage of training her super team to understand their powers better. She sees them become more at home with themselves after an early life full of restriction and even self-hatred. It’s not just about being cool, it’s about your identity, and Helen gets that and stops having reservations about legalising supers again. It’s bigger than her family. And the Deavors arrange and fund this, because they want as many heroes implicated as possible, they want both generations of supers wiped out and to never be able to return. Dependency is a crutch they would say, and humanity needs to learn to survive without it. We can keep Screenslaver as the fake villain setting up the big final battle, and we can keep his monologue about dependency on screens as a metaphor, but devolving into a diatribe against the nature of neglecting your personal success by vicariously watching someone else’s. 
3. The third act didn’t fit 
We already don’t have the dead weight of baby JJ crashing the pace of the story. He’s a young child, and we’re going to have Edna watch him (she can love it like she does in the movie, Jack-Jack can find her research enriching too). This time it’s Frozone, Elastigirl and Mr Incredible who get taken by mind control. The siblings are going to stage a fight between all three, pretending that superheroes are unstable, liable to turn on each other at the cost of civilian lives. That should turn the public against them for good, while causing massive amounts of damage. They use the Screenslaver persona to set up a showdown in the city, only to capture the three supers and turn them on each other. 
Not mind controlled? Elastigirl’s recruits. They just barely manage to escape it. They go to get help from their mentor, only to find the supers gone, and Violet and Dash seeing the carnage on TV and getting suited up to find out what’s going on. The kids get an introduction and team up together, heading off to stop their teacher and parents, new blood vs old guard. 
That results in six or seven barely trained supers going up against three extremely experienced ones, while they also have to try to minimise loss of life and property damage. While dealing with the trauma, for Violet and Dash, of being attacked by their own parents and not knowing why. Also, they get backup from Honey. Frozone’s wife. SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN THIS MOVIE. She was designed and then cut and that’s a TRAVESTY. She’s already popular, she was a breakout hit, let her be in this. She steps forward, no powers, regular civilian clothes, and helps the kids out with advice from the ground, picking them up when they fall, and huge vocal encouragement. She kicks ass because that’s what she fucking does. She helps direct the crowds to safety, she tells these kids to look at their super suits and believe in what they’re capable of. And it’s her who snags Frozone after his powers get strategically rebuffed, she grabs him and grabs his goggles off and fixes it herself. 
With another adult on their side and better confidence the new supers manage to pull Elastigirl and Mr Incredible back to reality too, which concludes Helen’s anxiety about their capability and the passing of the torch. They did it, they were responsible - there’s no casualties and with all their powers combined, they managed to avert damage better than Helen and Bob ever did. The adults realise that the kids can be trusted to handle heroism and Helen is super proud of her trainees-slash-children. 
That leaves the actual capture of the villains, which comes down to running from the combined might of all the supers who gradually cut down their ability to escape, culminating in Winston stopping Evelyn from getting away, and having a personal realisation. A resurgence of the boyish glee he once had for heroes stopping the villains. He foils his sister and turns both of them in, willingly, in a weird way fulfilling his dream of saving the day like his idols did. 
To round off, thanks to the rehabilitated (and not sabotaged) hero image, and the display of capability the young supers put on, supers are legalised again. Helen and Bob now work as teachers to the kids as part of a new government program to make sure kids with powers learn how to responsibly control them, Helen of course continuing her role as mentor to her massive new family, and Bob finally able to work without restraining himself. The government agrees that encouraging kids to train properly and learn how to avoid risk and costly situations is worth endorsing. Dash befriends some of the other teens in the supergroup and has friends he can push his abilities with, without it being unfair. 
Finally, it’s time for Violet to move out, because things must move on. Helen, Bob and Frozone (who gets an updated suit because come on) are accepting that they’ll eventually they’ll have to let others take their place. Violet’s going to move in with Tony and get a normal job, because she still yearns for a normal lifestyle underneath it all, but she won’t be far away and can always answer the call to join the family in the field. They all bid her farewell (”Finally maybe I can get some peace without Dash bursting into my room-” “I can run to your apartment in one minute 28 seconds, I checked!!”) but Helen isn’t worried any more, because she has renewed faith in how well her children have grown up and is accepting they don’t need has as much any more. And besides, she has tons more children who need her too and it’s up to her to help them find their true potential. 
Thanks for reading this way too long exercise in figuring out what I wanted from the sequel to one of my favourite films in the world... the original Incredibles was centred around heroes also just being human, who make mistakes and have to grow up and change, and the villain’s fanboy mentality was the antithesis to that. I would’ve wanted a sequel that understood the message of its predecessor in that people have to develop and grow, one aspect of which is letting go, but what we actually got seemed too static and unwilling to move away from what we had already resolved in the first one.
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jangyeevns · 5 years
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eight for the happy meme
modified rp meme — ( accepting )
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eight characters i have played.
i’m just gonna put this under a read more because i wanna gush about my soon-to-be revived kids and the ones i miss sdfglkgf
also, don’t drag me for the gifs being different sizes and psds. some of these fcs get Fuck All in terms of resources compared to the others sO —
sage ( herrera - ) buckley
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so sage WAS a nina dobrev fc, but with a little tweaking to her ethnicity i’ll use her with a kelsey merritt fc ! she’s a medical student with a desire to work in the lab, unlike her past version who already WAS a working lab tech of sorts, and is a very sweet, playful lady. back in her old rp, sage was super adventurous, loved to travel and try new things so these distractions from the ugliness of the world didn’t really affect her positive, live in the moment outlook ! honestly, she was one of my fave muses before i left the community for a minute to focus on post secondary, and i’m glad that i’m able to build upon her old characterization now that i’m older and more realistic. also shoutout to my old pals gorgeous and dakota bc i wouldn’t have refurbished my sad ass variation of sage if they hadn’t opened southportrpg :/ miss them and their messy muses
odessa fulton/lorelei dorsey
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while she’s going by lorelei on my indie, she went by both at one point when i used her in two or three different rps. she’s my lax but passionate photojournalist baby who was a means to become a better researcher with muse backgrounds and helped me to better understand aspects of ptsd. she had been sent to different parts of the world for her job, but was caught up in the crisis in syria i believe — i’m 90% sure it was before the time when we began sounding off about plots and backgrounds based on Real, Scary Events that could be really problematic, otherwise younger!me would’ve changed that to be respectful — and had to deal with the traumas associated with the bombings and unrest once she returned to take on more National or Regional stories; i never went too deep into it as it was a triggering topic and i didn’t wanna use events as severe as that in a tone-deaf or heartless manner, but i did want to explore beyond the safety blanket i had in place for my muses and considering my interest in journalism abroad and a certain movie at the time, odessa/leia came to be
estelle claxton
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i didn’t get to do much with her, but este was a part of a futuristic apocalyse rp centred around an artificial intelligence uprising, her being a tech whiz just like her dad; he died during the uprising and her and her family had to either seek refuge elsewhere or become part of a resistance group, and she wound up doing the latter with her older sister. rather than follow that plot, she’s just gonna be your usual grad student with her shit together — which is fucking rare SLDGFJDFKS so you’ll really get to see her fun, witty side without some sense of doom looming overhead !
laure zehner / brigitte sondag
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js but i hate how sarah’s resources are primarily with this type of psd and are mostly from her period work. basically, give me her letterkenny and interview clips Thanks !! sgflfjsd
my sweet little french spy.. so born laure zehner, she was used in an rp that was essentially reviving people who died prior to said rp’s present day or decade in some magical, unexplained way. she was the daughter of a wwi veteran in the alsace region and would go on to wish to be onstage, doing so upon moving to paris to become a cabaret performer and adopting the stage name brigitte sondag. forget how i explained it in my mia intro for the muse, but she soon became a spy for the allies after the germans occupied france during wwii and, after years of killing and hiding the bodies of officers, she was arrested and killed by a firing squad in secret. came back to life a good seventy years later and had a Massive modernity shock.. idr what followed but she was truly a badass, i wish i did more with her :/
louisa kent
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my little oddball artist :( she was a creative girl who had a bit of a wild child lifestyle, and in the rp that she was created for, she was something of a telepath ?? basically, she wished she could find an easier way to communicate with her best friend, who was serving abroad in the military or something, and suddenly ? she could talk to him in her head ?? it never got fleshed out and tbh i probably wouldn’t fuck with something like that again bc of my perpetual fear of being godmoddy, but she was fun to play — albeit cringey bc past!me was equally cringey with All of my muses — and the rp itself had some cool people :/ i just miss anyone i got along with in the Slightest in the past, okay ? LJGSDFKL
kang miran
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the first form hyeran took.. but one i revamped a Good bit when she became the music producer ari and i know and love JFGSKLG miran was a little college dropout with a sugar daddy and a dream to run her own fashion label/boutique, a fucking sweetheart who was ever the hopeless romantic ! honestly, she was either the basis for kerry or vice versa, idr which rp i joined first. but unlike kerry, miran could hold her own a Little better, she had people around her who didn’t coddle her or weren’t always sweet in return after all — but i chalk that up to ker being part of a small mumu of college pals for the Great majority of her ( still ongoing ) run while miran was just used in that rp. anyways i miss many of gangnamhq’s lovely muns almost two years later and it’s where i first met a good few of my mutuals even if we didn’t get to interact ic, so i still think about it fondly fslkdgd
maxime seong
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look, he’s up on my indie to be used, but bc he’s only had a proper run in One rp, he counts SLKGDS he’s one of the only males i’ve ever used in a group and for good reason. Bc I Fucking Suck At Characterizing My Own Male Muses. DSFLKSD i’m just insecure and uncertain as hell with them, that’s all. but max was just a scummy hetero fuckboy from france, the male version of the Iconic han yeseul but a little more headassed, and for the latter reason Alone is he Okay in my book. otherwise i’d fucking disown him sdjgfkdsfl he wasn’t used for very long, the rp lost heat and i kinda lost muse for him, but he’s certainly a memorable endeavour of mine
kang saerom
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i Loved playing her. so much SGLJSGFD i never really played a Genuinely dark muse until her, as far as i remember anyways, and romy took Some inspo from yeseul as well ( plus they share an fc ) ! she was a girl who had almost done it all in seoul’s criminal underbelly, somehow being corrupted at a young age to Push Her Limits and going from a simple teenage pickpocket to a con artist, to a coke dealer or some shit for some quick cash, to an assassin. with some psychopathic tendencies, she had a substantial amount of self-control when it came to chasing her dangerous highs or when confronted, not prone to genuinely snapping for little or even good reason.... though it would go down the drain if you took the last boston cream doughnut. Watch Your Fucking Back SDFGJKSDF 
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impracticaldemon · 6 years
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❄️  Author’s Note: Written as my Hakuouki Holiday Gift Exchange Fic for @akiko-natsuko​ (tumblr)  ❄️
This fic is based on the following prompts from @akiko-natsuko
1) Saitou! [I solidly support this choice] 2) Yamazaki [again, excellent choice] and just a smidge of 4) Hurt/ Comfort /Angst [this story came out as somewhat reflective with hints of action]
Overall, this is a slightly oddball, mostly serious story about one of my own very favourite brotps, Saitou / Yamazaki (with more than a little Hijikata thrown in, because I enjoy writing about these three guys).
This story is intended to be set more or less within canon, and takes place in late autumn, shortly after the assassination of Serizawa Kamo at the end of October. It’s AU to the extent that I doubt that Saitou and Yamazaki could have been absent from Kyoto for the length of time required by a trip to a “suburb” of Edo and back (Kondou and Hijikata’s original village of Hino is now a suburb of modern Tokyo).
🍶  A Special Gift, or The Pride of the Farmer’s Sons  ⚔️
Words ~ 3000 |  FFnet  |AO3
They rarely used, or needed, words. In fact, Saitō had trained Yamazaki and had been an unofficial shinobi (or spy, or assassin—the semantics were irrelevant to Saitō) for the Shinsengumi both before and after the other man had joined. Despite being eager to prove himself as a warrior, Yamazaki had given up the limelight and glory of the bushi without protest once Colonel Sannan and Vice Commander Hijikata had selected him to be an Inspector—a man who spied on his comrades as well as his enemies. If he ever guessed that his impassive, silent-footed sword-master had recommended him for the position in the first place, it had never been discussed.
An almost invisible nod and a quick hand signal told Saitō that there were at least two men in the large house that they sought to infiltrate. They had already had to scale a wall trapped with hidden, wickedly sharpened stakes and topped with shards of stone, and had narrowly avoided being found out by a well-muscled watch dog—an unusual luxury in food-poor Japan these days. The whole set-up was bizarre, since this was a farmhouse, not a samurai’s manor house. Fortunately, they had been warned ahead of time.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the elder Miyagawa brothers [1] still harbour a strong grudge against Kondō-san,” Hijikata had told them, face unreadable in the dim light of the brazier. It was late fall, and the weather had grown noticeably colder over just the past week. Winter was a tougher proposition in Kyoto than in Edo.
Saitō had simply nodded and waited for whatever other information his commanding officer deemed important. Yamazaki had suppressed his natural questions—it was a very strange assignment—and striven to emulate Saitō’s apparently unshakeable calm. He respected Saitō-san a great deal, and it was clear that the Third Division Captain was absolutely loyal to Hijikata-fukuchō, whom Yamazaki admired to the point of hero worship.
“Don’t underestimate the bastards,” Hijikata had continued, the usual crease between his high-flying black eyebrows becoming more pronounced. “They really hated that their bookish, day-dreaming younger brother managed to get himself adopted into a higher-status family and subsequently inherited both the master’s family name and his dōjō.”
Yamazaki had been unable to restrain his surprise. Kondō Isami-kyokuchō’s ability as a warrior was well-known. If nothing else, the tremendous skill of the men who followed him was a testimony to more than charisma—Yamazaki couldn’t imagine that charm alone would have been sufficient to attract the likes of Hijikata Toshizō, Okita Sōji, Saitō Hajime, Nagakura Shinpachi and others. Colonel Sannan was a well-educated, well-trained man from a samurai family, yet he had become a member of Kondō-san’s small dojo and then followed the man to Kyoto. Mind you, the friendship between Commander Kondō and the Vice Commander was obviously something special, as was the Commander’s deep bond with the First Division Captain. It was a pity that Okita-kumichō was always so disrespectful to the Vice Commander.
“Yamazaki?”
“Ah… Sumimasen deshita, Vice Commander.” The shinobi-medic had flushed a little, and could only hope that the gloom had concealed most of his face. He had worked hard to achieve the proper expressionless countenance of a true samurai. “I had never heard or imagined that there was trouble between the Commander and his family.”
“Small town, small minds,” Hijikata muttered tersely. He continued, in a more normal tone, “And it was really just the older brothers. I mean, farmers work hard and they’re supposed to know their place. Ambition and a good imagination aren’t really welcome. They didn’t take his playing around with a katana seriously, and they objected to the way he spent so much time reading instead of doing chores like a proper farmer’s son.” Normal had given way to perceptible bitterness. Hijikata had also been the youngest son of a moderately prosperous farming family.
“I understand, Vice Commander.” Yamazaki, who had been born the son of a practitioner of traditional Eastern medicine, did indeed understand better than many. He knew that a large part of his devotion to the Commander and Vice Commander was that they had given him the longed-for opportunity to become a warrior, despite not being born into the samurai class.
“Well, then…” Hijikata had paused, and then sighed. “Seriously, I know this side-trip is a little unusual, but this will be our first New Year’s celebration with Kondō-san in sole command of the Mibu Roshigumi. I want to make it special for him.”
Yamazaki, who was observant both by nature and training, had noticed what seemed to be a fleeting smile on the Vice Commander’s face, but he hadn’t been certain. Had there also been the slightest pause before the word ‘special’? In his peripheral vision, he had glimpsed a small shift in his companion’s otherwise motionless seiza.
“We will leave immediately, Vice Commander.” Saitō had bowed and risen on the words, picking up his katana from the floor. He always seemed to know when Hijikata-san was done briefing them, and managed to be efficient without being impolite. (He also got along well with Okita-san, which still puzzled Yamazaki, although he attributed much of that to the fact that they needed each other as opponents as well as comrades.)
“Thank you Saitō; Yamazaki. Make the best time you can. This is only feasible because of other urgent business in Edo, after all.”
“Hai.”
“Oyasumimasen.” [2]
Yamazaki was working quietly on the shutter of an upper floor window. Saitō crouched nearby, keeping watch. Confident in his companion’s ability to silently pry open barred shutters while hanging upside-down from an overly-ornamented roof-edge in the middle of the night, the senior officer of the pair was content to scan the courtyard and laneway below. He didn’t so much as twitch when Yamazaki crept up beside him and indicated that they now had a way in. The roof had been trapped—this time with a variety of spikes and even hunting traps—but the intruders were no longer surprised by such extreme measures. On the way across the roof to the window, they had also had to avoid two nearly-invisible strings of scrap metal and ceramic shards, but those had merited no more than an exchanged glance to confirm that the other man had noted of the alarm system.
Saitō had been the first into the room, as previously arranged. Yamazaki still found it odd to see the captain’s katana secured to his back, rather than on his hip, but night-work of this kind required free hands and as few encumbrances as possible around the waist and hips. It was difficult to swing down through a window or other access point with five feet of blade and hilt just waiting to get tangled in your legs or jammed in the opening. Yamazaki hadn’t even considered suggesting that Saitō leave his longsword behind, although he himself usually opted for no more than a wakizashi and a handful of throwing spikes and four-pointed shuriken.
They ran into a problem when they reached the lower floor and cautiously observed the most likely passageway to take them to the below-ground store-room that was their goal. A weathered, muscular man somewhere between thirty and fifty was sleeping in a comfortable-looking alcove just off the corridor. The corridor beyond the alcove was set with more of the home-made alarms.
Even Saitō registered a moment of surprise. What was the purpose of building this rather ostentatious house, if at least one of the owners chose to sleep in an alcove instead of a private room? The man’s resemblance to Kondō-san was marked, and after a moment’s cogitation, the black-clad intruders [3] held a rapid—and silent—conference. Their orders had been clear on this point, if nothing else: no killing, no weapons, no lasting harm of any kind except in case of mortal jeopardy.
“And if I decide that you weren’t in mortal jeopardy, then you will be,” Hijikata had told them. “They’re farmers. If either of you needs a weapon to deal with them, then you need to reconsider your career choices.”
Neither Saitō nor Yamazaki had said a word in response, and the Vice Commander had looked almost embarrassed—almost. Then he’d cleared his throat and added: “Anyway, whatever happens, don’t get hurt, or worse, identified.” Another pause and then a grudging, but sincere, “Tch… just don’t get hurt, okay?”
Saitō covered the distance to the sleeping man in single, silent rush, and had a cloth and gag in the slightly open mouth before his victim could so much as twitch. Yamazaki immediately tied the man into his futon, securing his arms to his sides and immobilizing his legs. To his credit, the man displayed rage at the mishandling, rather than fear—Yamazaki was rather impressed—but after making sure that he was breathing moderately well despite the gag, Saitō slipped out of the room to reconnoitre further down the passageway. Near-amber eyes—very much like the Commander's—tried to burn holes in Yamazaki’s skull, but he had already taken up a defensive position several feet away. When he thought of the prize that Saitō was now hurrying to find, he almost shook his head in disbelief. Since that was not proper behaviour for a shinobi-medic-warrior of the Roshigumi, he contented himself with a frown.
It wasn’t until they’d reached their room and changed out of the dark, close-fitting clothes that suggested—well, announced, really—that they’d been up to shady things that Yamazaki finally asked the question that had been plaguing him since the beginning. He looked over at Saitō-san, who gave him a barely perceptible smile. His white sash stood out clearly in the dark room, and he was adjusting his scarf. Yamazaki recognized the almost-smile as permission to ask questions.
“The Vice Commander asked us to raid the Miyagawa farm for the purpose of obtaining this… special gift? Which is two bottles of Miyagawa-made sake? I apologize if I seem to pry, Saitō-san, but do you know why this sake is special? I have not heard of it before now.”
Saitō considered the question—the final one—and then sat down across from Yamazaki. As always, he sat in seiza, but they knew each other well enough now for Yamazaki to be aware that Saitō did not care if Yamazaki sat more informally under circumstances like these, or when off-duty.
“Kondō-san does not care for sake,” Saitō stated gravely. This was a common and socially acceptable way to say that a respected senior officer or high-ranking individual did not have a good head for alcohol. Yamazaki nodded; he was aware that the Commander rarely drank. “The last time that Kondō-san was pressed to take part in a drinking party, he explained that he has never found any sake that was as much to his taste as that made by his older brothers. Unfortunately, as they do not see eye-to-eye on certain important matters, he is no longer able to obtain his preferred sake. Rather than settle for inferior alcohol, he prefers not to drink at all.”
Yamazaki contemplated this in silence for some time. As usual, Saitō-san did not rush him, or appear to be impatient.
“So… Hijikata-fukuchō did truly want to obtain a gift that would be special to the Commander.” Yamazaki hesitated, but since he had—most unusually—asked such a direct question in the first place, he felt that the least he could do was to try to follow the path that Saitō-san seemed to be marking out for him. “However, it may be that—strictly as a jest between two men who have known each for a long time—Hijikata-fukuchō also means this gift as a way to, ah, convince Kondō-kukuchō to drink with him and the others on the occasion of the New Year.”
“It might be difficult for the Commander to refuse to drink, under the circumstances,” Saitō agreed. He noted a trace of concern in Yamazaki’s clear, violet eyes. Yamazaki didn’t want to see Hijikata-san as the kind of man who would risk his reputation and the well-being of his officers for the sake of a joke.
As though he could not suppress the thought any further, Yamazaki murmured, “That does not seem like something that the Vice Commander would do.” Then he added, a little reluctantly, “Well, he might—since he and the Commander know each other so well—but only if there were another, more important objective.”
Saitō’s smile was more noticeable this time, although just as brief.
“I believe you are correct. The Commander and the Vice Commander were having a discussion that I could not help but overhear, just a few months ago. It seems that during the final rupture with his brothers, the Commander demanded to know what it would take to convince them that he was both the boy with whom they had grown up, and Kondō Isami-sensei, the master of a dōjō, and a man who would one day be a warrior of great renown..”
“…I think I see.” Yamazaki turned it over in his mind a few more times. Yes, he understood it better now. “Whatever it was that they demanded of the Commander—to prove that he accepted his past while also confirming his elevation in rank—had to do with the sake. Those bottles were marked, which is unusual for home-made alcohol.” Saitō’s face gave nothing away this time, yet Yamazaki somehow knew that he was pleased. “Also, on top of forcing the Commander to meet their demands—which is something that no true samurai would ever tolerate from mere peasants—they were trying to shame him into taking something—sake—that could be viewed as as an embarrassment to him.. …Because the Commander doesn’t drink much, I means. I think… perhaps they were trying to make up for feeling inferior.”
Yamazaki became more and more thoughtful, and Saitō’s silence only served to encourage him to continue. “By refusing to take the sake by force—or to punish them for their insolence—the Commander proved himself not to be a true samurai. At least that’s how they saw it, and it salved their pride. …They would not be alone in such views.”
The name Serizawa Kamo hung in the air between Yamazaki and Saitō for a very long moment. He had been the real first Commander of the Roshigumi, even though Kondou-san had been theoretically his equal in rank. Serizawa-san had often ridiculed Kondō-san’s origins, and had implied—or said—that to be the true samurai he wished to be, Kondō-san needed to be willing to enforce his exalted, virtually untouchable social status—at sword point by preference. As an Inspector, though not a member of the Roshigumi’s 'inner circle’, Yamazaki knew virtually all of the circumstances of Serizawa-san’s assassination, which had been carried out by Hijikata-san and his most trustworthy adherents.
“The Vice Commander wished to remove a possible cloud hanging over the Commander’s honour, without forcing the Commander to order a strike against his own family. Moreover, he had somehow found out that the Miyagawa brothers had become completely irrational in their fear that Kondō-san would eventually return and force them to submit.”
“I have always found it interesting that two men as skilled and worthy of respect as Kondō-kukuchō and Hijikata-fukuchō came from the same small farming area just outside of Edo, murmured Saitō.
Yamazaki was embarrassed that he had forgotten that fact. The point was that Hijikata-fukuchō had grown up in the same area, and would have known, or known of most of the principals in the curious tale. In fact, it was not impossible that he’d had his own run-ins with the older Miyagawa brothers. Demonstrating the long reach of the Roshigumi—and therefore of Kondo-san—and shaming those brothers in some way, could have been the Vice Commander’s main goals all along.
"So the Vice Commander likely strove to accomplish several things at once,” Yamazaki remarked, with some pride in his superior. “First, he outwitted Kondo-kukucho’s elder brothers, and now they will have to concede that our Commander is indeed a great man who has moved beyond them. Second, the manner of our strike will be embarrassing to them: they may tell many people the tale of two masked men—two shinobi—who broke into their fortified home in the dead of night, but took only two bottles of sake. Most people will say that the brother we incapacitated made up the tale in order not have to account for the missing sake, which he drank himself of course. As a kind of a bonus, the Vice Commander will be able to have his jest when he asks Kondō-san to drink a toast with his newly obtained, special sake.”
In the darkness, deep blue eyes met inquiring purple.
“It is possible that the Commander’s brothers may not choose to tell the story at all,” Saito pointed out, almost apologetically. “Therefore, I believe that as part of our duties, we should mention the tale ourselves to one or two local gossips, and let it go on from there. We will say only that we heard if from a person who heard it from one of the brothers.”
”Hai.“
"Happy New Year!” Hijikata leaned toward Kondō. “I have a special gift for you this year, Kondō-san: I thought you might enjoy this particular sake.”
“Oh, well, you know me,” his victim said with a triumphant smile. “If I can’t have the stuff from home, I just don’t bother, these days.”
“Most understandable, but you are in luck! Look at this.” With that Hijikata brought out Miyagawa-made sake for Kondō-san.
“Now you can finally drink properly to all of this year’s successes! To your good health!”
[END]
[1] Kondō Isami was originally Miyagawa Katsugorō, the youngest son of farmer Miyagawa Hisajirō. This story refers to Kondō’s two older brothers, Miyagawa Otojirō/Otogorō and Miyagawa Kumezō/Sōbei. These men did exist, but this story is completely fictional; I made up everything but the names and basic facts (e.g., location).
[2] Good night.
[3] In fact, Saitō and Yamazaki knew that true black tends to stand out against shadows, and so on, and will often provide an undesirable outline instead of concealment. Consequently, their clothes were made up of dark greens and greys, which are actually far more effective for camouflage in dark surroundings. Black isn’t bad in a pinch, but it isn’t the best
All the very best of the season! @hakuyamazakisensei​ who joins us in favouring the Saito / Yamazaki BROTP and the two characters in general!
~Impracticaldemon
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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #148 - Sleepy Hollow
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Spoilers below.
Have I seen it before: Yes
Did I like it then: Yes.
Do I remember it: Yes.
Did I see it in theaters: No.
Format: Blu-ray
Disclaimer: I will not be commenting on the accusations, controversies, or public opinion which surrounds actor Johnny Depp in this analytical piece. This is strictly an analysis of the film Sleepy Hollow and those involved, and whatever my feelings on the actor are they do not change the film or its quality. So I am avoiding the topic altogether.
1) In his time as a filmmaker, director Tim Burton has only worked on three films which have received R-ratings: Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, and Sweeney Todd. The R-rating here allows the director to play with some fun gore which is definitely fighting of his personality but rarely seen in his PG and PG-13 fare.
2) Martin Landau - who won an Oscar under Burton’s direction in Ed Wood - has a cameo as early murder victim Van Garrett in the film’s prologue.
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3) It says on IMDb that this is the same scarecrow from The Nightmare Before Christmas but I question the legitimacy of that claim.
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4) The prologue is a very nice way to kick off the film. It showcases the visual style perfectly, as well as the fantasy-horror which will come to define the picture. Not to mention Burton’s well crafted decapitation mania.
5) Johnny Depp as Ichabod Crane.
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Depp based on his performance on a number of actors who have portrayed heroes before, but not your typical stunning heroes. Depp based his performance on Angela Lansbury, Roddy McDowall, and Basil Rathbone. Ichabod Crane is a character noted for not being the most stunning of leading men in the original text (in fact he’s pretty ugly), and Depp asked Burton if he could portray this. Burton opted to have Depp show off Crane’s more unattractive personal qualities though, primarily his squeamishness and his superiority.
This was the 90s. Marked with action movies like Speed, Con Air, and The Matrix. I think having a more nerdy hero works for the film. And Depp is primarily a character actor who gets more leading roles than most characters actors, so having Ichabod Crane not being your standard leading man works very well for the film. It’s one of my favorite Depp performances. A little more reserved than - say - the Mad Hatter, but still filled with the quirky oddball-ness and extravagance the actor is known for.
6) The scariest thing about this is that it’s actually how police work used to be done.
Police Officer [after Crane says he wishes to examine the body for cause of death]: “When they find him in the river the cause of death is drowning.”
7) Crane’s devotion to science/reason is his defining character trait and is established early on in the film. It is not only his defining quality but his key character conflict as he’s thrust into a world of magic and monsters. But more than that, it is very telling of who he is as a person and - as we latter learn on - comes from a place of deep sorrow and pain. The origin behind this devotion makes Crane all the more human and sympathetic, something which I think works great.
8) Christopher Lee cameo!
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9) The marks on Crane’s hands are a nice little detail which ties both into his history & motivations as a character.
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10) According to IMDb:
The town Sleepy Hollow was created from the ground up in three months. At the time of filming, it was the largest set built in England and was put up in record time. The last set that held this record was built for Billy Elliot (2000).
The cast and crew often said "The feeling one had walking around Sleepy Hollow's sets, and in particular the town at Lime Tree, was almost as if you were walking around the inside of Tim Burton's head."
In a film where the title is derived from a place, that place must be memorable. It has to have a character of it’s own. Through the visual style and community, the town of Sleepy Hollow is as much a character in this film as the Headless Horseman is.
11) There are so many tiny details in this film which become wildly relevant later on. The first of these is the makeout session between two anonymous people that Crane witnesses upon arriving to town (later revealed to be Dr. Lancaster, who’s affair was leverage the villain of the film had over him to commit conspiracy).
12) Christina Ricci as Katrina Van Tassel.
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If you’re weirded out by the age difference between Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, don’t worry. So was Johnny Depp.
Johnny Depp initially found the idea of Christina Ricci being his love interest in the film to be rather odd, seeing as he's known her since she was nine years old.
Winona Ryder was offered the part, but turned it down. I have to say Ricci does a very fine job in this film. You don’t feel like you’re watching Ricci, she immerses herself so totally as Katrina. This isn’t Wednesday Addams or Zelda Fitzgerald, Katrina is a character all on her own. Ricci does the job justice but I’m afraid she isn’t nearly as developed as Crane is. She’s hardly a one note damsel in distress. We get a peak into her relationship with her mother, her belief in nature over science, the love she has for her family...actually, that all sounds really good. I think I just realized we do learn a bit more about Katrina than I initially thought. Okay, disregard the earlier note. She’s developed pretty well.
13) I gotta use this line someday.
Brom Bones: “And who are you friend? We have not heard your name yet.”
Crane: “I have not said it. Excuse me.”
14) The council of townsmen.
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Made up of fine performances from Michael Gambon, Ian McDiarmid, Jeffrey Jones, Richard Griffiths, and Michael Gough, it is when we meet this council that we not only get a clear sense of what this town is like but also when the mystery sets in (something I’ll discuss more later).
Reverend Steenwyck [after Crane observes that the victims’ heads were found severed from the body]: “Their heads were not found severed. Their heads were not found at all.”
15) Christopher Walken has a small but memorable role in this film as a pre-headless Headless Horseman.
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Walken and Burton worked together on Batman Returns and he does a job in his flashback scene of showing just how BRUTAL the Horseman was back when he was a hessian. He delights in the carnage, the murder. He feels less like a man and more like a demon, a trait which gives us our initial fear of the monster and will come to define his character as the film continues. Walken plays a brief but important part in the film.
16) Another tiny detail in the film: the twin girls who get the hessian caught and killed.
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17) According to IMDb:
Burton is a major fan of Mario Bava's Gothic horror films, and, as an homage to Bava's Kill Baby, Kill (1966), Burton adopted the basic plot of Bava picture: a skeptical investigator who places his faith in science and reason treks to an out-of-the-way hamlet plagued by a murderous ghost, only to have his skepticism of the supernatural forcibly broken down by the experience.
This film is first and foremost a murder mystery with supernatural elements. There is conspiracy in Sleepy Hollow, the horseman does not kill at random, it has a human master, and then you have this line from Richard Griffiths:
Magistarte Philipse: “Five victims, four graves.”
As the film starts to progress you see the motivations and mystery become clear, you start to understand what is going on in a very detective like way. I think that is why this film succeeds so well. It is more than horror, it is more than a slasher film, it is a mystery which elevates those two genres. I really enjoy that.
18) According to IMDb:
Star Johnny Depp adopted Goldeneye, the horse that played Gunpowder, Ichabod Crane's horse in the film, when he heard it was going to be put down.
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19) This line has always made me laugh.
Crane [upon arriving at the scene of a murder]: “You have moved the body?”
Dr. Lancaster: “I did.”
Crane: “You must NEVER move the body.”
Dr. Lancaster: “Why not?”
Crane: “Because.”
It gives us a nice moment of comedy, reminds us of Crane’s scientific methods in a superstitious world, AND shows off one of Crane’s less attractive qualities (his ego).
20) Young Masbeth.
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I love Young Masbeth. I’m a fan of found family relationships and the relationship Young Masbeth forms with Crane is very familial. It’s not exactly father/son, more like concerned uncle and his nephew. Young Masbeth avoids the pitfall of being an annoying pain. He’s honest, enduring, has incredible devotion towards not only his father but also (later) Crane and Katrina. He’s a nice, surprising addition to the film and I think it’s better for it.
21) Crane has a lot of sass that I love.
Dr. Lancaster [as Crane brings in a body for an autopsy]: “This is most irregular, constable.”
Crane: “I would hope so...”
22) There is such nice blood spurts in the autopsy scene! Burton really revels in the R-rating.
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(GIF originally posted by @deppster)
23) Tim Burton is a Disney fan, and included a number of references to their film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Most notably, the scene in which Ichabod Crane crosses the covered bridge and hears the frogs underneath croaking "Ichabod". Not only that, but the scene where Brom Bones (disguised as the Horseman) chases down Ichabod is also very similar to the climactic chase from the Disney film.
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24) Crane’s recurring dreams of his mother use some stylish imagery which conveys that it’s a dream while still fitting with the fantasy tone of the film.
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25) The scariest thing about this is that it’s actually how some people used to think.
Katrina: “My father believes romance stories caused the brain fever which killed my mother.”
Because god forbid women read.
26) If you want further proof that Burton DELIGHTS in this film’s gore and gruesomeness.
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27) There are quite a few chilling lines in this moment.
Young Masbeth [while riding in the woods]: “Listen.”
Crane: “I hear nothing.”
Young Masbeth: “Nor I. No birds. No crickets. It’s all gone so quiet.”
28) Miranda Richardson is delightful in this scene with the witch, even though you don’t know it’s her right now. Through her voice and physicality she creates such a creepy and fun character it’s hard NOT to enjoy the scene.
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29) The Tree of the Dead is an incredible piece of design. It both fits perfectly in the real world of Sleepy Hollow while seeming out of place. The visual and the thematic choices of having its roots be veins filled with blood make it just so memorable. It can be gross but in a fun way.
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30) This is the saddest, scariest, and hardest scene to watch in the entire film. It is such powerful drama and conflict but damn if it isn’t just hard to stomach. And not because it’s gory, but because of the victims and the pacing and the point of view and...gah! Watch at your own discretion. This is heartbreaking:
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31) Ray Park brings a lot of presence to his role as the Horseman. Park is probably best known for his role as Darth Maul, but he is one of the best stunt-actors in Hollywood. He is able to carry the character of the Horseman established by Walken’s flashback in an honest, consistent, and memorable way.
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32) This scene is very telling.
Crane [after Brom picks up an axe]: “Wait, he’s not after you!”
Brom: “I’ll get him.”
Brom may be a bully but at least he’s got guts. Crane has intellect and tenderness but he lack courage. If he can avoid fighting he will; he’s largely looking out for himself and his ways.
33) The second hardest scene to watch in this film is Ichabod’s full memory of his mother’s demise, the explanation of how he lost his faith, and the reason his hands are marked. This is the scene which ties in DIRECTLY with his devotion to logic and reason and it just makes it all so match sadder.
Ichabod [about who murdered his mother]: “...by a bible black tyrant behind a mask of righteousness. I was seven when I lost my faith.”
His father - a reverend - killed his father because he believed she was doing witchcraft. He locked her in an iron maiden and Ichabod found her. And he pushes away anything he can’t prove with logic and reason because of it. It was his mother’s faith was got her killed, and it was his father’s faith which led him to kill her. So he forget faith.
34) This would melt my heart if I weren’t distracted by the age difference.
Crane: “Perhaps there is a bit of witch in you, Katrina.”
Katrina: “Why do you say that?”
Crane: “Because you’ve bewitched me.”
35) Young Masbeth is great, but why does he just assume the symbol under Crane’s bed (and later that Katrina is learned to have drawn) is the evil eye? Like any weird looking eye is evil to you? Because guess what Young Masbeth, while I love you, you are wrong! Quite assuming so much.
36) This random sex scene also becomes weirdly (and yes, I meant to type weirdly) relevant later on.
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(GIF originally posted by @rocktheholygrail)
37) The church scene is when things sort of take a twist. As the audience we are totally expecting Michael Gambon to be the master behind the conspiracy, but we soon learn that this is not really the case.
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38) According to IMDb:
Michael Gambon wanted to keep his severed head and send it via proxy to interviews and dinner parties as a joke.
39) These two lines are very key to Crane’s internal conflict.
Young Masbeth [after Crane accuses Katrina of being the horseman’s master]: “Then you are bewitched by reason!”
Crane: “I am beaten down by it.”
Crane: “Villainy wears many masks. None so dangerous as the mask of virtue.”
His father wore a mask of virtue. Crane has lost all ability to put his faith in anyone, and that destroys him sometimes. How much better would his life be if he could just ignore reason and trust? That is his key transformation in the film. It’s not that he accepts witchcraft is real. It’s that he accepts people. He learns to trust and put his faith in people again (albeit not many, but still).
40) Miranda Richardon as Katrina’s Step-Mom is the murderer!
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All those random little moments in the film become relevant!
She was able to blackmail the doctor because of his affair.
She was sleeping with the reverend.
She was one of the twins who got the horseman killed, and her other twin was the witch who freaked out Crane!
Now that the veil is lifted everything becomes clear and Richardson is able to delight in her villainy. She even gets cheesy one liners!
Lady Van Tassel [as the group runs through the windmill door, pursued by the Horseman]: “Watch your head!”
Nothing like a good crazy villain, and Miranda Richardson is great at it!
41) Tim Burton included the windmill scene as an homage to 1931′s Frankenstein, which he paid homage to in both his 1984 short film Frankenweenie and it’s 2012 feature film successor.
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42) Finally, a film character who gets that you can’t kill a ghost!
Katrina [after the windmill is burned down]: “Is he dead?”
Crane: “That’s the problem: he was dead to begin with.”
43) The scene where the Horseman reattaches his head is...sorta gross.
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You don’t see it in this GIF, but we get to watch as all the muscles grow back which is...not exactly fun but definitely memorable.
44) Christopher Walken likes to say that this was his first kissing scene in a movie (warning, violent content):
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It wasn’t (he had kissing scenes in The Deer Hunter, The Dead Zone, and A View to a Kill), but I can understand why he claims it was. It would be a memorable first on screen kiss.
45) I’m a sucker for found families, so the fact that this film ends with Crane, Katrina, and Young Masbeth - all orphans who had no one - end up living in New York together gets me every time.
I think Sleepy Hollow is one of Burton’s more under sung films, which sucks because it’s great. He REVELS in the fun blood and gore an R-rating gives him, his visual style is on full display, the murder mystery is incredibly interesting, and it has a number of great performances. It’s just a wildly entertaining horror film. If you like horror, mystery, Burton, or any of the actors involved, you should give this film a watch.
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