#The art direction in style was god tier

[pasteilian]

BRO mutant mayhem was so fucking good not gonna lie if it wasn’t I was on the path of world destruction, but now that I’ve watched it I put my mass murder note into the archives I’m a different person now I’ve changed 

Raph stole the show for me I loved him so much I swear he was chaos incarnate  and never apologized for it. God bless.  i’ve never been a fan of shipping April with the turtles, but the shipping part wasn’t even bad. Actually, I think this movie did the shipping of the turtle so well compared to the shit we’ve gotten in the past. just such a fun time fun story and just all the love they went into the movie was amazing long live TMNT

#tmnt mm #mutant mayham #it was so cool #The art direction in style was god tier #The humor hit like it was never too much. It was always funny. #The pacing was amazing. You never felt like it was going too fast or too slow you always were on point. #Leonardo getting bullied through the whole movie was the funniest shit. How are you going to be the oldest sibling and still get #lil bro treatment #couldn’t be me #also Leo’s end game fit take that shit off #they colonized him 😔 #pastries babbles💌

[zahri-melitor]

A Quick, Somewhat Joking Discussion of 'the Best Ways To Get Into Comics' (TM)

Be 10-14 years old, pick up a random comic at the library/bookshop/someone's collection and become obsessed. This is proven the best method and the level of confusion engendered by it is actually more useful long term than any other method. (At that age you are going to fall deeply in love with random texts that are never going to quite have the depth your brain imparts on them)

Mention to a friend who does like comics that you want to 'get into comics' and said friend, knowing your preferred types of tv shows and books, your favourite characters and having asked what you're hoping to read, carefully picks out something that is objectively a good starter comic that fits your tastes and makes your brain go brrrr. (god tier level, that friend is a keeper, also congratulations on the fact you are never going to replicate the feel of reading that first comic again)

Lurk or hang out in some fandom space where you are regularly exposed to discussions of comics that includes actual panels and storylines of recent comics, and work out from that what seems to have a vibe you like, so you go and pick up that run (solid option, being able to taste various writers and styles of run before diving in gives you a better chance of choosing a run that hooks you, I was introduced to so many runs via scans_daily in this way back in the day).

Wander into a library or comic shop or bookshop that has a decent number of comics with the idea that you want to look into reading these, and then flip through a bunch of trades in what you think you want to read before something catches your eye and you pick that up (less likely to be a definite hook, but has the benefit of being far more likely than any option listed further below to involve newbie-friendly art. And newbie-friendly art is something that isn't discussed enough in terms of recommendations but is one of the biggest reasons people just getting into comics bounce off the format).

Only here will I mention recommended character reading guides. In my experience they're useful in certain contexts, particularly for characters who have hard-to-trace chronologies, for finding out what runs that person considers essential to the character, for untangling the order of comics in particularly confusing large events, and for narrowing down and directing people where there's a big chunk of material to read about a character. My objection is they tend to be treated like gospel by newbies, they frequently don't consider whether the artwork is going to make their eyes burn, quite often they are more focused on the 'best' stories for a character rather than the 'most accessible stories' for that character (these are two separate concepts!) and they tend to sell a narrative of 'don't read X' where X is quite often a comic which people don't enjoy but where an important event happens or is simply an older comic that's particularly affected by community expectations and standards having changed since it was written.

You know that '75 Years of Comics' series of prestige hardbacks that DC did? They're great to hand to a newbie looking to get into a specific character or mantle, because it's got stand alone stories that are highly regarded or solidly introductory about that character from each era, they can page through it and work out what version makes their brain happy, and then follow up on those leads into more reading. (Expensive but perfect for libraries)

The first trade of a recent run for the character in question by the current or second most recent writer. Most runs when they change lead writers are going to have some level of onboarding simply because a lot of people DO switch what they're reading depending on what team is on the book, and by going with a current run you manage to sidestep a lot of the 'this feels weird and old' problems.

[animehouse-moe]

Shangri-La Frontier Episode 1: What Do You Play Games For?

What happens when a gamer who only plays shitty games decides to pick up a so called god-tier game? Shangri-La Frontier is the answer to that and provides an insane opening episode for the concept. I'm just so excited to get 2 whole cours of this, and I really want to explain why.

Also, SiM's vocalist (MAH) on the OP with FZMZ? And Chico on the ending song? This series was made for me man.

First of all, C2C is an incredibly underrated studio considering the quality of the projects that they enjoy. This is one such project. Right from the start the quality is insane. 2D camera movement, detailed animation and character acting, the whole nine yards. Just look at this walking cycle! There's no 3D and their shoulders move!

It's just crazy to see the detail they put into these pieces early on. Walking cycles are super neglected due to how "plain" they are, but there's just something incredible about seeing that effort put into it with stuff like these examples.

And then there's this (sort of misleading) litmus test. Does your anime have really good art for a random cut? Odds are the production's doing really well. And, well, there's this really good looking beetle shown early on in the episode.

Anyways, to Shangri-La Frontier the game. The direction understands the assignment right away. This is a video game, we need to know it's a video game. So they show us it's a video game. First person perspective is our very first cut shown in the welcome screen and once we enter the world, setting the tone perfectly for what's to come.

But of course, a video game has more to it then just first person perspective, and of course C2C grasp that as well. Slow motion (which you'll see later), and more importantly camera movement are important in establishing that feel. The slow draw towards an endless expanse of world, the bird's eye view of a landmark or feature as the camera slowly rotates. It gets it, and it's able to create a living, breathing trailer for Shangri-La during the episode because of that.

And then, there's the fact that it's a video game. There's talks of skills and abilities and levels and whatnot, but I think most understand that that's a "staple" and that C2C/Shangri-La handle it quite well.

Let's talk about the good stuff, let's talk about action. C2C nails it. They put incredible effort into video game-styled choreography, and it pays off in spades. The slow motion, the harsh camera angles to accentuate the fight, the camera rotation, the way that attacks linger in the air. It's incredible stuff that's augmented by insane animation and visual effects. Seriously, pay attention to the fight and you'll see that they did an impact frame for a crit. Not in the traditional sense, but that the impact frame was the crit. This sort of stuff just makes me so excited because of how well it's handled.

And then there's the worldbuilding. The OP comes into play as well of course, but the details are super great. The enemies Sunraku faces in the starting forest are (mostly) beginner enemies. A goblin with a stone axe and some sort of large pig seem to be the "typical", but there's more to it than that. The Vorpal bunny is a "rare" enemy which makes sense, but the pig enemy only appears as Sunraku ventures closer to the second town rather than the first.

There's considerable detail and effort placed in the creation and appearances of these creatures in the world. The Vorpal Bunny featuring a better crafted weapon than the others that most likely came from somewhere else. Don't forget - we saw a rabbit in the opening.

It's just insanely cool stuff. The world is already shown to be more broad and deep than "it's a big video game world!". There's all sorts of little pieces like this peppered about, and it's just so damn good. Even the concept of Sunraku's "Wanderer" dropping him in a forest rather than the starter town. The detail to really sell this game as god-tier is so damn good.

But it's important to not forget, the god-tier part of the game is only one part of the puzzle. Sunraku here is famous for playing garbage games.

And it's a great way to offset the story and provide a fun angle, I'm serious. It allows them to add fun commentary and responses in regards to frustration from playing bad games, and at the same time provide a novel and excitable approach to a genuinely good game. The best of both worlds that sets the perfect stage for how they want to explore this story.

So, understandably so, I'm very excited about two cours of this and everybody else should be too. C2C is showing us they've got the potential to make the absolute most of Shangri-La Frontier and it's fun and surprisingly unique concept. Can't wait to see what they bring with the next episode!

#shangrila #shangri la frontier #shangri-la frontier #c2c #studio c2c #c2c studio #vrmmo anime #isekai anime #anime review #anime and manga #anime #anime recommendation #anime reccs

[pippastrelle]

Bulletpoint liveblog of C3E91 let's go!

Second half: Crown Keepers

Oh, is this where the Crownkeepers come in? I heard that. Haha I always wonder what it's like at the studio hiding the fact that, like, Robbie is there.

AABRIA! God, I want to know how her hair and makeup is done. It's so different and so cool nearly every time I see her. She's got such style.

Moment to appreciate the music they play during the art reel at the end of the break.

CROWNKEEPERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I actually never fully watched Kymal so the bunny woman was a surprise XD

The collaborativeness is nice, asking Anjali about her sister.

ahahaha god this platform. DON'T WHIPLASH MY EMOTIONS LIKE THIS! I'M CRYING OVER ORYM AND ALL!

….Me not having watched Kymal might confuse me for the next two hours.

Black lipstick will never not get me. Aimee.

Is Dorian going to reply to Orym's message??????

Good on Matt for starting off.

(Pleeeeease may they say this woman's name). Her character's Morrighan. Whoa, a champion of the Matron of Ravens.

The Crownkeepers have been having a real swell time.

(Fy'ra Rai has always been a great name to say). So, sent by the Wildmother to protect them.

Aww, Dorian feeling some consequences of his avoidance.

From an above-table perspective, I'm surprised they're all feeling so lost? I wonder if it was planned and if Aabria's going to suddenly give them a direction, or if they're reticent to set too much in stone?

OPAL'S BETRAYER GOD CHAMPION DESIGN IS SO SICK; I LOVE IT!

Sleep as an exhausting void… Creepy.

"Can I hear him?" "Make a wisdom save." Terrifying. "Shouting at you while running backwards." What a description.

I do love Opal, too. Such a situation but still trying to retain that image of her.

"We gotta get these chuckles out not." Whimper in terrified player.

I love Aabria's GM-ing in a lot of other things (ACOFAF is S-tier), but I think this highlights why I found EXU Prime harder to get into. The Crownkeepers tend to lack a motivating goal from the off-set, making it a bit hard for me to figure what they're trying to do and why.

Still, starting off with PVP might be the wakeup!

HA! Matt Mercer doing the ad read. Love it.

Spider Queen is intimidating and poor, poor Opal.

Holy shit, Opal's raising into the air and burning the forest. Hahaha make Aimee choose which friend to destroy. Awwww forcing her into PvP!

Goddddddd Aabria is the Betrayer God here.

Black eyessssssss. Magic second set of arms.

God, imagine being Aimee rn.

27 on initiative??????

THE DARIAX ROLLS RETURN!

At least Opal can communicate her panic.

HASTE ON OPAL???? HA! VENMO TO HASTE THE ENEMY!

The Dariax rolls balance Morrighan's.

Aw, sweet with Morrighan and Opal whispering telepathically.

Amazing image of stone cold Opal in contrast.

I like how Matt and Aabria pop in with lessons for the others. Nice to see players propping each other up.

CRYSTAL RAPIER? NICE!

"She's just a little guy."

Absolutely fair, seeing weird shit for your Betrayer God Champion friend and just wanting to knock her the fuck out.

Kind of Anjali to tally up the numbers as they roll.

Eeeeeek, ripping a rapier down her thigh.

OPAL DOESN'T TAKE THE DAMAGE????? IS THAT A REACTION OR????

TED!

Hahaha "if Opal did crossfit".

(I googled it. Morrighan is played Erica.)

Oh christ Ted's helping. I wonder how much Morrighan knows about Ted.

"NONONO STOP!" as verbal component for Shield is fantastic.

I don't trust that this is Ted?? Does Ted know Opal's fucked right now??

"Why's the first thing you do drawing blood?" Well, because it's D&D.

Haste lets you go get a hotdog from Arby's. Vax knew this well.

Aabria's English accent is so American-version-of-English but I like how it sounds anyway.

Let the ashhole return, cowards!

Yeah, Robbie, this is a weird situation. Dorian's just choking on his flute. Yeah, trying to restrain Opal is a good plan. NO! NAT 20 minus 1 + 4 plus 13. Aimee/Opal, go! Get! It!

Nice, Aabria, failing forward is a lesson we can all incorporate.

NAT ONE PLUS 13?? ROBBIE! Cannot catch a break.

T_T Fy'ra being betrayyyyyed again. Ooh, very very cool from Anjali calling for a flashback.

(We still never got the response to Orym. Has that happened yet or it that going to be the bookend? I'm curious what this is going to mean for the actual campaign. It's a really fun idea to bring in another GM for a section. Sure, more Actual PlayTM than homegame but Matt at least gets to play.)

Haha Anjali welcome to the DM club! I know about this from the Ginny Di video. Anjali DMed an official lego game.

Can they free Opal?

Ohhh. The Wildmother wants this? Am I misunderstanding? Shit.

They can't separate Opal from the crown.

Love how different people set their dice.

Never take advice from GM Aabria :P

Holy shit these guys roll high.

I hardly ever see people take the dodge action.

I do like Opal a lot.

So the Spider Queen is just trying to full take over Opal. I wonder if Teven or the other Betrayer God Champion had this sort of thing happen.

GO AWAY FOREVER??? THEIR MOTHER DID THIS TO OPAL AND TED?? Evalux? A splinter group? I'M SO CONFUSED AND INTRIGUED! THE BEACON'S INVOLVED??? How tf did they get it in Byroden? So there's a splinter of Luxon followers who split themselves in one life instead? God, I hope the main cast get to watch this.

…..And Opal has no memory of it. Will we ever get this information?

Erica continues to roll like a god.

The turns have felt both long and fast. I've still got, like, an hour and a half.

I love how Matt describes/contextualises things, even as a player.

HA! CYRUS IS HERE?!

ROLL PERFORMANCE FOR HANDJOB

A 7!!!!!

Bless is good. Dariax panicking is great.

XD God initiative takes a long time in a big group.

THE ROLLS! THE DARIAX ROLLS!

Ah! Dariax is a bard! Yeah! So cuuuute for the Double Ds. "THE PERFORMING ARTS IS WORTH IT!"

So. All of them are blind in the darkness. Awesome, awesome move, Aimee.

Hahhahahahaha right. Warlock. No spell slots.

XD It's such a long game. No loo breaks.

SQUIRREL SPIDER FTW

Gotta love Cyrus. "NO DON'T SHOOT!" The himbo persists.

….Matt, what did you get for the WIS save?

PALADIN COMES IN FOR THE SAVE!

Hahahaha "that could can see". Okay. Blind mistystep? …..I'm sure 8 will get it.

Aww, attacking your friend's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Lay on Hands is good.

I appreciate Aabria's helpfulness as a GM.

Fy'ra good teammate.

Opal, again, is amazing. I love how she tackles such complex things in her very Her way. Preserves drama and humour in her self-absorbtion.

I wonder how Opal washes her hair under that crown?

Well, some allowance for fighting when Opal attacked them? Obvs harder emotionally than logically.

Aww everyone got to see the memory of Opal and Morrighan bonding.

HA! LOVE FY'RA BEING COMMANDER!

Dorian is forever clanking with all the instruments he carries. T_T 9 to dispel fails. Good plan though. Until back into the darkness he goes.

I like the idea of going back to the Crownkeepers, especially as a perspective on Opal and Dorian, but I'm two hours into this section and still don't quite get the full significance of it. Which is a shame. I still have faith, but I think this encounter would be more enjoyable if I understood better why we were seeing it in the Bell's Hells campaign.

I've always respected Opal/Aimee going in on being the asshole sister. Getting to see that perspective.

The gem flashbacks are cool.

"We can both be coins." "And we're richer for it!" Amazing. Great pun. Love Fy'ra. Love Ted coaching Opal.

Max offering blind Dariax up on a plate. Respect.

I LOVE MATT AS DARIAX! SO FUNNY!

Con sorcerer is smart.

Aabria has no luck against Dariax.

I'm sure that 9 WIS will help perception.

BARDIC COMES IN CLUTCH!

DIMENSION DOOR IS A BONUS ACTION?!

I. Love. Opal. Aimee plays her and her struggles and her relationships with everyone so well and nuanced. Dariax is a well-done character too. Real even behind the humour.

I leapt too, Aimee. Holy shit what the fuck, Spider Queen?

(Fuck you, Twitch, for skipping, my god).

Oh god, Cyrus, don't die.

Nooooo, Dariax. Living nightmares. Him and Dorian seeing their nightmares.

Spider Queen Opal wtf.

Pick up next week? Huh. I… am confused by this. Interesting encounter. I liked the drama between the Crown Keepers. But, again, I don't understand the significance for the Bell's Hells? So I reckon next week will be first half Crown Keepers, second half Bell's Hells. Huh. Interesting episode. It was fun, though I really don't deny still being on the edge of my seat to find out what's happening with the BH.

#critical role #cr spoilers #critical role spoilers

[coolfire333]

I’m rewatching playthroughs of all the trauma center games except this time in order of game’s release. So instead of my “optimal” version of progression (imo) of UTK > UTK2 > SO > NB > TT it’ll be UTK > SO > NB > UTK2 > TT

I’m almost done with SO now, I finished UTK yesterday. My main notes as of now are 

1. SO is such a step up from UTK it’s ridiculous. The music, the art, the storyline, everything is so much more complex and it’s great. 

2. I overall prefer the art style in SO but some of the emotions in UTK feel much more raw and expressive with its art direction, so I feel like SO almost slips up on that a bit. I wish the poses were more varied, I think SO mostly changes the facial expressions between sprites and not the body poses, while UTK seems to vary body position as well, so that might be the issue.

3. NAOMI KIMISHIMA. I love Derek in his own right but my god literally Naomi is the best character and I missed her so so so dearly in UTK. Once you’ve experienced SO, going back to UTK there’s a very noticeable absence of Naomi.

4. Still weirded out by the fact that this is the second game in the series and not like the third or something. Why’d they make UTK only to go “haha sike” and totally remake it?? I understand needing to remake everything for wii but it’s drastically different in terms of everything, especially storyline, so it’s really odd to me that this came directly after UTK

5. UTK isn’t the best in hindsight, but it brings up very interesting medical dilemnas. Euthanasia is still a highly contested issue today, and without getting into the meat of it too much, Tyler’s reasonings are very realistic and sympathetic, while Derek’s rebuttal is also valid. 

6. Additionally, Derek’s response to Linda still gets me even today. It just feels really genuine and I legitimately think his advice is worth taking. I know Angie’s reaction is widespreadly detested, and it does seem a bit out of character for her considering the fact that she criticizes Derek’s own bedside manner earlier, but considering she’s also lacking in sympathy for her own father, maybe she’s just prone to being overly critical of people in tough situations. What she said to Linda was still detestable, but I think that it shows a type of pragmatic mindset that Angie sometimes falls into. 

7. On that note though, it would have been good for either SO or UTK to punish Angie for her behavior with Linda in some way. She doesn’t have to be fired, just give her a stern talking-to by one of her superiors and have her express genuine remorse for saying that to Linda, or at least have her apologize. It would have left less of a bad taste in my mouth with regards to Angie and that storyline and also it would have added a lot of complexity to Angie’s character by showing that she can make serious mistakes and has to apologize for her actions, just like a number of other complex characters (Derek, Naomi, Adel, Markus, and CR-S01 come to mind, maybe Little Guy too, although idk if he ever expresses explicit remorse besides the remorse of almost getting caught lol)

8. Naomi Kimishima’s storyline is so top tier it’s not even funny. I’ve said this ad nauseum in another post somewhere, but having her start out on the side of evil only to redeem herself later, while still suffering the consequences of her actions...so good!! I really love the layers she adds to SO in comparison to UTK, I really would have been interested to see what she’d be like in UTK though. Her voice actor is also fantastic and I really commend the acting she did for her. Naomi’s voice is literally so elegant yet authoritative, and it also has a haunting tone to it (especially in TT). Anyways <3

#text post #talking #trauma center #trauma center under the knife #trauma center second opinion #naomi kimishima #derek stiles #linda reid #angie thompson #tyler chase

[xamaxenta]

whats your favorite pokemon and/or favorite pokemon game?

Favourite Pokémon that is a Legendary: Giratina

Favourite Pseudo Legend Pokémon: Garchomp

Favourite Pokémon that isn’t Legendary: Volcarona

Favourite generic or overrated Pokémon: Pikachu

Favourite game/s: Sun, Violet, Platinum + Legends Arceus in that order

The reason Violet ranks higher than Platinum is because of two things, Platinum/Sinnoh was the region where only two fire type Pokémon existed for most of story mode: Infernape and Rapidash which is ???? Also because Sinnoh is the region of fuck you in which you cant go two fucking steps without getting some kind of status effect, i recently replayed some and fucking forgot how many encounters and trainers have shit like thunder fang or thunder wave or supersonic (oh my god) and RNG hates me on a good day so im stopping after every fight to fucking heal these status effects it’s tiring but its fine I still love this game and I’m a normie I guess bc I love mommy Cynthia shhshdhd

Also Sun is fucking good ok, sunmoon were top tier games, the graphics were the best and the best art style for the handheld era, i loved all the characters, the culture, Kukui is hot as fuck, this gen also happens to have the GOAT Guzma, team skull are great they’re relatable as fuck, it introduced the pokemon island trial challenge which was something new for once and that was fun, the starter trio of alola is the most solid design direction we’ve ever had for a starter trio, and some of my favourite pokemon are from this gen

solgaleo my beloved, Lillie my daughter… Hau my only sunshine… listen if anyone wants to say something bad about my boy Hau you can catch these fucking hands I’m sick and tired of the people whinging and whining about rivals being nice or easy or whatever have you considered that rivalry in a negative sense is basically Enemies? Thats not your rival or like theyre your arch nemesis or something your foil idk anyway the rival choosing the starter thats weak to yours is a pathetic thing to whine about, the first battle of any pkmn game IS A TUTORIAL BATTLE DUDE!!! LOSE IT ON PURPOSE IF YOU CARE SO GODDAMN MUCH ABT TYPE ADVANTAGE/DISADVANTAGE!!!!!!

I have opinions about this and i know I’m right

#also why do people get bent so hard on what starter their rival chooses when theyre designed to be swept on the regular??? #no offense but Blue/Green and Silver weren’t shit lmao #I’ve never struggled against them as a child and im sure no one else has lost to them either on a regular play through

[zydrateacademy]

Velma is bad, but...

Look. The show is not good. The memes are god tier. I’m gonna keep watching it. So here’s my complex opinion on the matter. I’m not watching it through official means so HBO is not getting any ad or sub revenue from me. I don’t pirate video games, but I do movies/shows/music because it’s easier and less time consuming. I was never a massive Scooby fan. The original cartoon predates me by an entire 20 years (1969 - I was born in ‘89). I’ve always known about it, it’s been in the peripheral of my media consciousness for my entire life. I think I saw one of the Live Action movies (the 2002 one, I was still in school). I probably caught a few episodes in my cartoon watching days but I’ve never been a puzzle solver and the “whodunnit” angle never grasped me. So I don’t have the nostalgia that the rest of the world seems to have, but I recognize character assassinations when I see one.

I admit I don’t hate Velma as much as the rest of the internet seems to.

I like the art style, admittedly. However I’ve caught some brief scenes where it looked rushed and less detailed and they just went with it. I actually quite enjoy the hallucinations, though they got a little less creative in episode 3 and 4 but they were also not a major focal point of the plot in either episode. Some jokes DO land. Some. Some jokes land, and then they turn around to ruin it. When Fred was taken to trial and the family tried to play up his innocent young boy shtick, they could have milked that for some real humor but instead he got water splashed on him and they went for a pretty low-bar Hitler joke instead. It was so close to a good joke. I’m not fond of the meta humor. I don’t like it when they made a dig at “adults watching cartoons”. Like bitch, this is a cartoon marketed towards adults. Why is there contempt for your target audience? And I’m a liberal, a leftist. I can handle some digs in our direction. GTA seems to do it the best, I had a giggle at the in-universe cartoon they had of the hero “Impotent Rage!”, making fun of Democrats ability to never really get anything done. I get the joke, it’s clever, it’s satire. But when characters in media stop the plot, and turn to the camera to complain about the patriarchy or whatever it irritates me. We all know the patriarchy is a thing. How about you have something clever to say. Episode 4 is a complete derailment of the plotline just to talk about women’s empowerment through attractiveness. The whole episode is just Velma figuring out that women’s empowerment can take different forms. It’s a fine message, but brought to us in a clunky and frankly, kind of annoying method. Especially since there’s supposed to still be a murder-mystery happening. Derailment is a thing that happens a lot in episodes 3 and 4. I didn’t hate episode 3 at all on its own. The first half had a lot of jokes I had a giggle at but it was just meandering around the plot to stop and figure out what Velma’s sexuality is (still inconclusive as of episode 4). I don’t mind a slow burn romance but fucking sort your shit out, show. I am “ehhhh” on Velma. I kinda like Daphne. I’m okay with Norville. He seems to be the most consistent source of jokes that don’t turn around on themselves. But Jesus, what they did to Fred should be a media crime. It’s just one of these situations where I feel like there’s some potential quality here buried under some really dogshit writing. I will not argue for a second that this is not a good show and I don’t think there’s anything any future episodes can do to retroactively “fix” the problems already present. I feel like a season 2 might have to do some heavy lifting (because I think I read somewhere that it’s already greenlit?) I still remain somewhat fascinated by it and I’m more curious to where the plot is going if it can stop stopping itself to turn towards the camera and stop hating on literally every viewer.

#Velma #Scooby Doo

[gemsgamegems]

I...do not have the necessary energy to transfer my 4774274 screens from my switch to this Tumblr post, and then go back and add the ALT text.

So.

This will be a text only review, and the pictures will possibly come later (and in SMALL batches) sometime...in the future...yeah

I FINISHED VALIDATE LAST WEEK, EEEEEEE!!

Yeah, I started the month/year it came out (Sept/Oct 2022) and then...had to abandon it BUT I have finished, 100% everything (except the dumb rhythm game that unlocks one last CG in Malik's route--okay, the mini game isn't dumb, I just keep getting super low scores and stressing myself out 🤧)

So, some thoughts?

The order I played: Isabelle -> Inaya -> Emhari -> Malik

Favorite characters: Bigs, Isa, Yolanda, Malik, all the kids. God the kids were so CUTE I COULD NOT??????

Favorite routes: All of Malik's (more later), All of Isa's (I just love her SO much??? Literally rooting for her the whole time. Definitely fell in love with her during the demo days and she didn't even have a route out yet!!) Bigs x Emhari (a friendship route in which I was introduced to Bigs and spent the rest of the game's other routes crying that I have to wait until vol. 2 to play as Bigs, God I love him too, stop it 🤧)

Not...favorite characters: Ashlie (which...I understand she's purposefully written to be a bitch, and the girl is going through some Stuff™️, ALSO I played her route back in the original demo days and remember some of said stuff, but...idk. I was not feeling her once I got to Emhari's route 😂) Keaton (yeeaaah his white ass was a Kickstarter tier and I still stand behind the team needing to make it more money to have him in the game. Spoilers spoilers spoilers SPOILERS SPOILERS lol if you're reading this post, it's basically talking spoiler stuff anyway There's the Inaya x Keaton route, and of course they fuck, and I was literally so unimpressed with Keaton's sorry self. Like he's definitely a well written character....but my God, I know ppl--men-- like him IRL and I can't imagine ignoring that particular brand of bullshit and going yeah, let's bump uglies. Good idea. Yup. NO!!! NOT A GOOD IDEA!!! GIRL WHAT??? NOOOOOOO. Lol so ofc I bullied him to get the bad ending card, and then cried when I had to be nicer to get the good ending card lololololll)

Specific thoughts Concerning Isabelle

It's the way I want to go back and replay all her routes??? I felt a strong kinship with Isa before, during and after her routes. I was in the same mental and physical state as Isa when I first played her route, and while she's in the theater world and I was in the retail/customer service one, I related to her creative spirit, her ties and love for her family, hell having to ride the city bus and living with your family because you're afraid/can't afford to strike it out on your own. And yeah. LOL concerning her dates and romance escapades...no there aren't direct parralls to my life with that BUT I had great empathy, and I especially understood where she was coming from in trying to find herself and pursue her own dreams even when she was frigging proposed to and I was like OMG YES GIRL MARRY ANOKI, BE CUTE TOGETHAAA

Specific thoughts Concerning Malik

....I know I curse in these posts anyway, but apologies for this because... NIGGAAAA 😂🙄😐🤣 I should preface this section of rambles with the disclaimer that I have an inherent bias for Malik x Arihi because of the damn demo. And I mean the early days demo, back with the old art style. So like...the VERY first character I played as was Malik and he has vexed, stressed, garnered my emotional support, and then some with his light-skinned self ☠️. He grows a loooot during his routes though: struggling rapper with 2 kids by 2 different moms, still in love with one of them, struggling and then excepting his sexuality, coming to terms with how much his dad fucked up him and his mom...all while being an utter MESS at times. Some of the stuff you could choose to say with him??? 🙄...🤣 Listen, I will clown his ass but I also will be his loudest defender!!! But after a few Ls he did get some huge Ws and I was super proud of him. (Side bar, but I thought was interesting and needed perspective concerning parents who love their children but don't want to be parents. Like...controversial? Very. But not everyone is fit or even wants to be a parent, and I wish we'd stop pushing that idea on people. Anyhooooo....)

To Conclude

I bought the soundtrack, so I love being at work listening to it, or at home and drafting/writing with it playing in the background ($6 USD y'all!!!). The CGsssssssss I liveeeeeeeeeeee 🤧Volume 2, I need very much omg. I know it was scheudled to come out last year, but life happens and I'm sure the team is doing whatever they need to do to get us the next installment of ValiDate. The game very much ticks off the 'slice-of-life' box for me, and it's even more fun as we're removed from the teen side and get to see this trope explored with 20 somethings all from diverse cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, sexualities, and family make ups (ppl are divorced, have broken engagements, are hung up on exes, serial daters, needing friends, etc etc. and that's just volume 1!!)

On a side note, I would recommend playing this on PC or Xbox, and not the switch. I liked playing in bed, but I had soooo many issues with crashing and sprites not appearing, and things not unlocking on my Switch version. It was very annoying. But that aside, I truly love this game and I highly recommend it!

#vn: validate: struggling singles in your area #veritable joy studios #post type: rambling #post type: review #post type: game spoilers

[jambjars]

ACADEMIC BLOG POST 3- The Transmedia to End Them All

Homestuck is a vast piece of media. If you haven't read it or heard of it, you've probably encountered it through cultural omosis, such as seeing folks painted grey at a comics convention, using the term "god tier", or even seeing leetspeak in the last 10 years. I'd like to take the time to detail just how massive this project is, and to lay out why cultivating one's own transmedia can bring people together.

Figures 1 and 2- first and one of the last panels of the comic.

Homestuck is a webcomic that starts with 4 kids who get stuck in a video game, drawn in a relatively simple visual style. A simple concept that grew into an incomprehensibly huge conglomeration of information (it did the multiverse before the multiverse was cool), with the word count alone being upwards of 800,000 words. At first, all panels were drawn in Microsoft Paint-- as the comic progressed and gained more fans, slowly the rare Flash animations began to feature fan songs. Eventually, author Andrew Hussie would allow a great deal of fan involvement in Homestuck's art direction, making Flashes into little games and eventually developing a separate game in the same universe called Hiveswap. The fanbase grew so massive that even the extremely long comic and various other offshoot projects wasn't enough content for them. Fan spaces would organize zines and even make spinoff comics of their own, as in the case of the popular Vast Error. The comic made up a huge, if niche, corner of the internet, bringing people together to talk about fan theories, critiques, and love for a series like no other.

Figures 3 and 4- The title page of fan comic Vast Eror, and a page from one of the Paradox Space semi-canon comics

All good things come to an end... or they keep persisting despite themselves. While the original Homestuck comic came to a close in 2016, author Andrew Hussie kept creating related material. Hiveswap wasn't the only game in question released; Though Hussie eventually lost sight of the vision he was trying to achieve with Homestuck, the wealth of a world he and his fans created was one of a kind.

When we create and publish artwork, we cultivate a space to engage with it. Homestuck, despite its flaws, is accessible despite its vastness, and many of the media artefacts it put out resulted in fans who stumbled across them to engage with the overall canon. As artists, we are not legally obligated to dedicate our lives to one work, but it sure can lead to a lot of joy.

Bibliography

Cha, X. (2022). Vast Error Homepage. [Digital] Available at: https://www.deconreconstruction.com/vasterror/1 [Accessed 4 Nov. 2023].

Hussie, A. (2009). Homestuck Official | Webcomics by Andrew Hussie. [online] www.homestuck.com. Available at: https://www.homestuck.com/.

Ilina, O. (2021). Gender Qualities and Roles of Villains: Presented in North-American Web Comic Homestuck by Andrew Hussie. International Journal of Social Science and Humanity, pp.59–62. doi:https://doi.org/10.18178/ijssh.2021.v11.1040.

Morrison, Z. and Cragg, S. (2014). Summerteen Romance. [Digital] Available at: http://hs.hiveswap.com/paradoxspace/index.php?comic=258 [Accessed 7 Nov. 2023].

Nakhaie, F. (2022). Reproduce and adapt: Homestuck in print and digital (Re)Incarnations. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, p.135485652211419. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/13548565221141961.

Veale, K. (2017). ‘Friendship isn’t an emotion fucknuts’: Manipulating affective materiality to shape the experience of Homestuck’s story. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 25(5-6), pp.1027–1043. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856517714954.

Vékási, A. (2022). Comics and videogames: from hybrid medialities to transmedia expansions. Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics, pp.1–3. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2022.2094980.

#ma digitalmedia #academicblogdm

[bmaxwell]

Monster Train

Every once in a while, a game comes along that tickles my brain in some kind of way. Looking back, these are the games I’ve poured hundreds of hours into: Dungeons of Dredmor. Slay the Spire. Darkest Dungeon. Stardew Valley. Games with a strong sense of progression and satisfying gameplay loop can make the hours just melt away for me. Every year has at least one or two of these that land for me, at least to an extent. Monster Train might be at the top of that list. It certainly is by hours played. Steam says I have 944 hours logged, and I played a whole hell of a lot on Xbox too. 

Monster Train was my pandemic game. It was a warm, cozy blanket on my second monitor to take my mind off the surreal world news. At a glance, Monster Train looks like a dime-a-dozen “deckbuilder but with a twist!” games we’ve been seeing since Slay the Spire came out. Maybe a little worse. The visuals are, uh, well...it looks like a mobile game. Cartoony art style, cards that look like they fell out of the beta for Hearthstone...I half expected to see images of scantily clad anime ladies covering the screenshots. Play now milord!

But as Chris Berman used to say way back when I was a big pro football fan and loved to watch ESPN’s Sunday night recap oh god I miss caring about things: “THAT...is why they play the games!”

Monster Train feels immediately familiar. You are progressing along a map with forking branches, engaging in combats, shopping for new cards or abilities, and stopping for little mini events. The biggest differentiator is that rather than battles being just win/lose, you have a 4-tier TRAIN where the combat takes place. Enemies generally enter on the bottom floor and, if they survive the round, they move up to the next floor. The top floor is your heart furnace thing, and baddies that make it up there do damage to your life pool. When that reaches 0, you lose, and make some meta progress by way of unlocking more relics and more cards for your faction. 

You are placing your own monsters down to defend the train. In each round, you play cards, end your turn, then the combatants on each floor of the train attack each other. Any baddies that survive will ascend a floor and the next round begins. You have a champion and card selection based on the faction you choose. 

The factions are the thing that really gave the game legs for me, they’re why I played the game for 1000 hours rather than 100 hours. Monster Train offers 5 factions (6 if you include the Last Divinity DLC). Each faction has its own pool of cards, and 2 champions to choose from - these are powerful fighters with unique mechanics that speak to the theme of their faction. 

You have the Hellhorned faction that is very aggressive with lots of high attack monsters, direct-damage cards and abilities. The Awoken is a nature themed clan, full of plants with strong defense, spikes to hurt attackers, and cards that heal. The Stygian Guard is your icy blue faction, full of freezing magic and trickery. 

The first 3 clans feel like what you’d expect them to be. Fire, nature, ice magic. The last 2 factions really feel creative and unusual. The Umbra is a faction built around summoning little weak creatures and feeding them to your stronger ones. And the Melting Remnant is a clan of candle folk who are powerful but melt away within a set number of rounds. The DLC adds the Wurmkin clan that features echoes, and egg creatures, adding a small layer of complexity that feels appropriate for a DLC release. 

This is already a lot of content, but what truly makes the game endlessly replayable is that at the beginning of each run you choose your faction and champion, and also a second faction whose cards are added to the pool for that run. Being forced to work with whatever the game randomly handed me, and finding synergies between factions was an absolute blast for me. 

I would just tell the game to give me 2 random factions and start my run. Once I’d had a successful run with each faction, I started ratcheting up the difficulty - there are 25 tiers of difficulty you can slowly pile on. No single one of these is overwhelming but reducing your income AND increasing the costs of things AND increasing the health pool of the bosses AND the attack rating of all enemies AND starting with less health AND a bunch of dead cards in your deck...well, you get the idea. 

After unlocking everything I kept playing until I’d beaten the game on the highest challenge level with each faction. And then I kept playing. And started over when the game released on PC game pass. Even when These Games resonate with me, after I’ve unlocked everything it’s time to move on. I’m not sure if it was the heaviness of the pandemic, or just Monster Train’s special sauce, or some combination of the two, but it’s one of those rare evergreen games that I am perfectly happy to play again and again with no carrot at the end of the stick.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Bankai

We are a days out from the first episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War and my hype is peak. I don’t talk about it as much as, say, Dragon Ball but for me, it is definitely up there. BLEACH is a top ten all-time anime for me. Kubo’s magnum opus was, for a time, the most popular Jump franchise out there. I don’t think it ever out sold One Piece, Luffy is a f*cking institution, but i am pretty sure it gave Naruto problems for a few years. More than that, early Kubo became a massive influence on my own art style. He and Toriyama informed how i drew characters for years. To this day, you can see their influences in how i develop he physical form and hey will both hold a special place in my heart for that. It’s a shame how Jump just ground that booming creativity which propelled Kubo into stardom, into f*cking dust. And then they cut BLEACH short. It was a whole ass assassination. It’s wild to me because, up until the Jump suits meddled, Kubo was writing some dope sh*t.

The Soul Society arc is one of the greatest shonen narratives ever written, man. It’s insane how great that plot was, and how disappointing everything which followed ended up being, in direct proportion to Jump’s interference. F*ck, that sh*t was terrible. But, this new adaption of TYBW looks to right those wrongs and, in preparation for that utter awesome, i’ve been revisiting the BLEACH manga. It reminded me why i love this sh*t so much so i wanted to take some time and rank out my favorite BEACH characters. Mostly because they’re on my mind and i have been on a BEACH high lately. Plus, this blog needs more Ichigo content. It’s borderline embarrassing how little Soul Reaper praise in on here.

Zangetsu

White Ichigo was a boss the second he stepped onto the stage. This dude was a real f*cking problem and the secret MVP of the entire goddamn series. Everything Ichigo ever achieved, was at the behest of Zangetsu’s influence. It’s wild because, not only is he Ichigo’s Zanpakuto spirit, but he’s also half Hollow, which accounts for Strawberry’s ridiculous abilities. I love his attitude. I love his color scheme. I love the fact that he’s basically “evil” Ichigo but not really. Don’t misunderstand, i adore Ichigo. I do. But a lot of my adoration stems from the fact that Zangetsu is a big part of that man’s shine. Plus, whenever Zangetsu gets to ride that horse, we get some of the best scraps in the entire franchise. Understand that “Hollow” Ichigo is just White Ichigo driving human Ichigo’s body. And that brash motherf*cker is just hitting donuts with it the entire time!

Sosuke Aizen

Aizen is easily one of the best manga protagonists, ever. Dude is up there with Dio Brando, Freezer, Char Aznable, and Queen Beryl. This dude manipulated everyone, destroyed the Soul Society as it was known to that point, and created a rival organization - all just to punch god in the f*cking face. This is next level spite. This is Vayne Solidor levels of big picture. I respect the gumption. Aizen was never a “bad guy.” Dude wasn’t even morally compromised. He had a point, one that would, ultimately, be proven right with the completion of the Thousand-Year Blood War. Ichigo’s defeat of Yhwach was what Aizen wanted to do, the entire time. Everything he did, every atrocity he committed, was in service to the outcome Ichigo all but guaranteed, with the defeat of Yhwach. Because Aizen knew how the world should be.

Tier Harribel

I have a soft spot for brown girls. Harribel isn’t a cat-girl like the another entry on this list, Yoruichi, but she is a shark-girl and a shark is good, too. In all seriousness, i genuinely loved Harribel’s whole look. The underboob in her sealed stake and that face mask were dope but her Resurreccion form was even better. Like, i was already onboard with her look but then Tiburon appeared and became a goddamn problem. It’s a shame someone with so much potential, spent her entire career jobbing for power scaling. Still, i adore Tia and refuse to accept she’s that goddamn weak.

Ulquiorra Cifer

I love Tia. Absolutely. I think she has a dope design and a fantastic Fraccion. However, she is not my favorite Espada. That, ultimately, falls on Ulquiorra. This motherf*cker is a straight up boss. From his very first introduction, to his final battle with “Hollow” Ichigo, he never relented. He never let up. Dude was tension the whole way through. Pretty sure this cat was one of the five Vasto Lorde, too, but that might be wishful thinking. It’s never confirmed but, in his pure hollow form, he has a very human-like appearance, similar to confirmed Vasto Lordes Harribel, Stark, and Baraggan. Now, i’m not going to sit her and say i wasn’t disappointed by Uliqi’s Ressurrccion, Murcielago. This thing was gross. But then he went Super Saiyan 2 and dropped Segunda Etapa on me. Let me tell you, man, if he wasn’t my favorite before, this would have sealed it. Segunda Etapa is a beast of a form. Wonderful design and absolutely overpowered. Dude legitimately killed Ichigo, a feat that not even  BLEACH’s Jesus could do. That is some sh*t right there. Plus, that death gave me peak Zangetsu so, yeah, thank you Batman!

Yoruichi Shihouin

Listen, i have a thing for catgirls. Always have. And it just so happens that BLEACH has one of the best. Yoruichi is everything you want in an anime waifu. She’s adorable, mischievous, was smarter than she let’s on, and is a lovely shade of chocolate. Miss Black Cat is laughably strong, going head up with a Larvae Aizen, even though he made short work of her, but you gotta love the gumption. I’m a little frustrated that we never got to see her Zanpakuto but, i mean, her Shunko skill kind of makes up for that? Kind of? I mean, her Shunryu Kokubyo Senki is f*cking spectacular but i would have loved to see what her Bankai would looked like.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

Lots of Arrancars on this list and there are a few more to come. Maybe. I do like me some Cirruci but do i like her enough to make this list? That remains to be seen. What isn’t in question is my love for Nel. I enjoyed this chick when she was still a baby. I know, comic relief and what not, but she reminded me a lot of Arale and i do have me a Slump in my heart for those types of characters. My love for Nel grows in tandem with her height, however, because adult Nelliel is a f*cking bombshell and a whole ass unit. I even dig the centaur Ressureccion, Gamuza. Wasn’t my favorite but it grew on me. Or, maybe, i’m bias because she was the first six-star i got in Brave Souls, who knows?

Rukia Kuchiki

I adore Rukia, man. Ma is everything i want in a protagonist, which is unfortunate because she’s not the protagonist. Rukia is arguably the most complete character in all of BLEACH. You learn so much about her over the course of the narrative and she never falls by the wayside. She’s right there at the front lines, standing next to Ichigo, fighting whatever came for their way. In my heart-of-hearts, i feel like the two of them should have ended up together but whatever. An Orihime is fine. I guess. It’s just hard to pass up on such a dope character, you know? She even got a spotlight film, which ended up being the best one of that lot. It was a toss up between Memories of Nobody and Hell Chapter but that Dark Rukia pushed her flick over he top for me

Honorable Mentions: Ichigo Kurosaki, Tatsuki Arisawa, Kisuke Urahara, Yasutora Sado, Riruka Dokugamine, Uryu Ishida, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Bambietta Basterbine, Gin Ichimaru, Byakuya Kuchiki, Zaraki Kenpachi, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Kukaku Shiba

#BLEACH #BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War #Tite Kubo #Manga

[smokeybrand]

Bankai

We are a days out from the first episode of BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War and my hype is peak. I don’t talk about it as much as, say, Dragon Ball but for me, it is definitely up there. BLEACH is a top ten all-time anime for me. Kubo’s magnum opus was, for a time, the most popular Jump franchise out there. I don’t think it ever out sold One Piece, Luffy is a f*cking institution, but i am pretty sure it gave Naruto problems for a few years. More than that, early Kubo became a massive influence on my own art style. He and Toriyama informed how i drew characters for years. To this day, you can see their influences in how i develop he physical form and hey will both hold a special place in my heart for that. It’s a shame how Jump just ground that booming creativity which propelled Kubo into stardom, into f*cking dust. And then they cut BLEACH short. It was a whole ass assassination. It’s wild to me because, up until the Jump suits meddled, Kubo was writing some dope sh*t.

The Soul Society arc is one of the greatest shonen narratives ever written, man. It’s insane how great that plot was, and how disappointing everything which followed ended up being, in direct proportion to Jump’s interference. F*ck, that sh*t was terrible. But, this new adaption of TYBW looks to right those wrongs and, in preparation for that utter awesome, i’ve been revisiting the BLEACH manga. It reminded me why i love this sh*t so much so i wanted to take some time and rank out my favorite BEACH characters. Mostly because they’re on my mind and i have been on a BEACH high lately. Plus, this blog needs more Ichigo content. It’s borderline embarrassing how little Soul Reaper praise in on here.

Zangetsu

White Ichigo was a boss the second he stepped onto the stage. This dude was a real f*cking problem and the secret MVP of the entire goddamn series. Everything Ichigo ever achieved, was at the behest of Zangetsu’s influence. It’s wild because, not only is he Ichigo’s Zanpakuto spirit, but he’s also half Hollow, which accounts for Strawberry’s ridiculous abilities. I love his attitude. I love his color scheme. I love the fact that he’s basically “evil” Ichigo but not really. Don’t misunderstand, i adore Ichigo. I do. But a lot of my adoration stems from the fact that Zangetsu is a big part of that man’s shine. Plus, whenever Zangetsu gets to ride that horse, we get some of the best scraps in the entire franchise. Understand that “Hollow” Ichigo is just White Ichigo driving human Ichigo’s body. And that brash motherf*cker is just hitting donuts with it the entire time!

Sosuke Aizen

Aizen is easily one of the best manga protagonists, ever. Dude is up there with Dio Brando, Freezer, Char Aznable, and Queen Beryl. This dude manipulated everyone, destroyed the Soul Society as it was known to that point, and created a rival organization - all just to punch god in the f*cking face. This is next level spite. This is Vayne Solidor levels of big picture. I respect the gumption. Aizen was never a “bad guy.” Dude wasn’t even morally compromised. He had a point, one that would, ultimately, be proven right with the completion of the Thousand-Year Blood War. Ichigo’s defeat of Yhwach was what Aizen wanted to do, the entire time. Everything he did, every atrocity he committed, was in service to the outcome Ichigo all but guaranteed, with the defeat of Yhwach. Because Aizen knew how the world should be.

Tier Harribel

I have a soft spot for brown girls. Harribel isn’t a cat-girl like the another entry on this list, Yoruichi, but she is a shark-girl and a shark is good, too. In all seriousness, i genuinely loved Harribel’s whole look. The underboob in her sealed stake and that face mask were dope but her Resurreccion form was even better. Like, i was already onboard with her look but then Tiburon appeared and became a goddamn problem. It’s a shame someone with so much potential, spent her entire career jobbing for power scaling. Still, i adore Tia and refuse to accept she’s that goddamn weak.

Ulquiorra Cifer

I love Tia. Absolutely. I think she has a dope design and a fantastic Fraccion. However, she is not my favorite Espada. That, ultimately, falls on Ulquiorra. This motherf*cker is a straight up boss. From his very first introduction, to his final battle with “Hollow” Ichigo, he never relented. He never let up. Dude was tension the whole way through. Pretty sure this cat was one of the five Vasto Lorde, too, but that might be wishful thinking. It’s never confirmed but, in his pure hollow form, he has a very human-like appearance, similar to confirmed Vasto Lordes Harribel, Stark, and Baraggan. Now, i’m not going to sit her and say i wasn’t disappointed by Uliqi’s Ressurrccion, Murcielago. This thing was gross. But then he went Super Saiyan 2 and dropped Segunda Etapa on me. Let me tell you, man, if he wasn’t my favorite before, this would have sealed it. Segunda Etapa is a beast of a form. Wonderful design and absolutely overpowered. Dude legitimately killed Ichigo, a feat that not even  BLEACH’s Jesus could do. That is some sh*t right there. Plus, that death gave me peak Zangetsu so, yeah, thank you Batman!

Yoruichi Shihouin

Listen, i have a thing for catgirls. Always have. And it just so happens that BLEACH has one of the best. Yoruichi is everything you want in an anime waifu. She’s adorable, mischievous, was smarter than she let’s on, and is a lovely shade of chocolate. Miss Black Cat is laughably strong, going head up with a Larvae Aizen, even though he made short work of her, but you gotta love the gumption. I’m a little frustrated that we never got to see her Zanpakuto but, i mean, her Shunko skill kind of makes up for that? Kind of? I mean, her Shunryu Kokubyo Senki is f*cking spectacular but i would have loved to see what her Bankai would looked like.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck

Lots of Arrancars on this list and there are a few more to come. Maybe. I do like me some Cirruci but do i like her enough to make this list? That remains to be seen. What isn’t in question is my love for Nel. I enjoyed this chick when she was still a baby. I know, comic relief and what not, but she reminded me a lot of Arale and i do have me a Slump in my heart for those types of characters. My love for Nel grows in tandem with her height, however, because adult Nelliel is a f*cking bombshell and a whole ass unit. I even dig the centaur Ressureccion, Gamuza. Wasn’t my favorite but it grew on me. Or, maybe, i’m bias because she was the first six-star i got in Brave Souls, who knows?

Rukia Kuchiki

I adore Rukia, man. Ma is everything i want in a protagonist, which is unfortunate because she’s not the protagonist. Rukia is arguably the most complete character in all of BLEACH. You learn so much about her over the course of the narrative and she never falls by the wayside. She’s right there at the front lines, standing next to Ichigo, fighting whatever came for their way. In my heart-of-hearts, i feel like the two of them should have ended up together but whatever. An Orihime is fine. I guess. It’s just hard to pass up on such a dope character, you know? She even got a spotlight film, which ended up being the best one of that lot. It was a toss up between Memories of Nobody and Hell Chapter but that Dark Rukia pushed her flick over he top for me

Honorable Mentions: Ichigo Kurosaki, Tatsuki Arisawa, Kisuke Urahara, Yasutora Sado, Riruka Dokugamine, Uryu Ishida, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, Bambietta Basterbine, Gin Ichimaru, Byakuya Kuchiki, Zaraki Kenpachi, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Kukaku Shiba

[bratz-kitten]

uranus through the houses 

uranus in the 1st house: eccentricity and uniqueness practically run in your blood. impeccable style, you express yourself through your clothing and self-presentation and if your parents have mocked your style in the past, it deeply affected you. you don't care for rules, you're a natural rebel. thinking very ahead of your time; you remind me of the simpsons because you're the type to predict something and then it happens and everyone goes like WHAT?! attraction to astrology + psychology. you get bored extremely fast - of jobs, of people, of situations - and you need constant change. the best friends in the world, you're so caring. you rely on your instincts and impulses, which can have you being very inconsistent. very humanitarian and independent, but you should work on your lack of dedication due to the way you lose your interest in things so fast. 

uranus in the 2nd house: constant disruption in your sense of worth and self-confidence, sense of security and material possession that floats from one extreme to the other. there’s a tendency for carelessness about your material possessions and surroundings, unlike many other planets in the 2nd house; you express your freedom through not wanting to feel tied down to any material object. you’re likely to choose an eccentric job and to make money in the most creative of ways, and also by showing your special talents in unconventional ways that make you gain notoriety. you tend to experience many unusual things while at work, so your work life is always interesting. you’re constantly outgrowing your past methods, ways of thinking, all that’s no longer useful nor serves you. you truly live the way you want. there’s a tendency for you to feel disconnected with other’s physicality - for example, during sex, where you might be interested in voyerism because it allows you to participate in sex while still being detached. this is not to say that you’re not caring and generous towards other people, because you absolutely are - but there might have been traumatic experiences in the past that prompted that. also, even if you tend to get fired a lot, there’s a lot of change for success because you’re so hard working. 

uranus in the 3rd house: you have a very intelligent mind that works in unique, different ways that might seem strange to others, and they have a hard time comprehending or appreciating the way you think or conversate. that doesn’t take away from your top-tier sense of humour, though. a free-thinker who learns to learn new things, you’re a natural rebel with your words. very witty. you need constant stimulation due to your hatred of feeling bored. you want to constantly evolve your mind with learning new subjects and satiating your curiosity. you express yourself through writing, poetry and storytelling - this placement is great if you’re an aspiring writer. incredibly creative. you also always have a story to tell because the craziest shit keeps happening to you out of nowhere. very curious of what others have to say, even if you could talk about your interests for hours on end. you have a tendency to interrupt others, though. so excitable, whenever you talk about your interests there’s a dreamy glint in your eyes and it’s absolutely contageous. 

uranus in the 4th house: very chaotic childhood + family dynamic! your parents might’ve done ridiculous shit as a way of punishing you like taking all your eletronics or imposing absurd rules. you show you care in very unconventional ways, so you might not be seen as a dependable person. very emotional, you care for those closest to you with all your heart. there’s a tendency to be inconsistent. one of the parents might’ve been absent or you might’ve moved houses a lot when you were younger, and travelled a lot too. you might be considered different from the rest of the family; in the worst case scenario, you’re the black sheep who they place all blame on for the family problems. very quick at making decisions. you constantly feel like you have no control over your life due to the unexpected things that keep happening. if your family conditions your sense of self + tries to restrict the freedom you crave, that’ll only result in you estranging yourself from them. constant need to run away. you feel weird when having to show someone you care through direct, traditional ways due to a lack of emotional support from the family. 

uranus in the 5th house: so so so creative and artistic! you love expressing your uniqueness through creating art + showing your tastes, interests, etc. huge need to live your most authentic life and staying true to yourself, because if you don’t, your self-worth suffers greatly. even those closest to you find you unpredictable. you love change, and when you’re not being forced to submit to a routine, that’s when your creativity can flow in the best way possible. there’s a tendency to constantly enter and leave relationships. you feel attracted to the most unusual types of people, those who are unapologetically themselves, because that’s who you crave to be. there’s a need for a lot of freedom when it comes to romance. very charming and enthusiastic, so many people develop crushes on you - good for you because you love being the center of attention. extreme risktaker, you’re drawn to activities that put your life in danger so you can scratch your need for adrenaline. spontaneous and playful. you love to get involved in controversial relationships, and in extreme, shocking situations just to get a rise out of others. 

uranus in the 6th house: you absolutely hate routine, it limits you and your creativity; you need to do all sorts of unusual and stimulating things in your daily life. very rebellious when in positions of submission. you need an environment where you can express yourself, so the typical nine to five job might not be for you. working in teams, if you’re not accepted for your uniqueness, can be a challenge too. you prefer to do things on your own. issues dealing with routine, job and even wealth, since you don’t want to feel confined. very unconventional methods of caring for others, of working, etc, that might confuse the hell out of others. both seen as someone with crazy ideas and a genius. others might have a hard time dealing with your unconventionality. perfectionists at heart, focuses a whole lot on the smallest details. it’s very easy to tell when you’re going through something or feeling chaotic because it shows in how you deal with your surroundings. however, when you’re feeling better, it’ll show in how you act more carefree, enthusiastic in your daily life. 

uranus in the 7th house: you’re very attracted to eccentric people and you need constant change in your relationships so you won’t feel “stuck”. you don’t let yourself be limited by traditionalist views when it comes to relationships, so the idea of a long-distance relationship or open relationship intrigues you; because the truth is that you’re terrified of having your freedom taken away, so you don’t want to feel tied down. you’re very intuitive, artistic, a lowkey genius, so eccentric people feel as attracted to you as you do them. you hate taking orders. overly needy people make you want to run away on sight. good luck to whoever manages to make you settle, it’ll be one hell of a hard thing to do. you’re not just looking for someone to love, you also need that person to be your best friend through and through. others might view you as very irritating at first, until they actually get to know you and find out just how kind and loving you truly are. a tendency to feel rejected and to seek validation in others to lift your self-confidence.

uranus in the 8th house: there’s a tendency to fluctuate between the two extremes: one second you’re feeling like a god amongst mere mortals, the next you’re hitting rock bottom with a shovel and ready to start digging. you’ll go through many unpredictable and intense transformations throughout your life, constantly looking to scratch the itch of boredom eating away at you by changing and evolving yourself. you should be careful with changing just out of boredom and for the sake of it, because it can do more harm than good - you might destroy some good things that you were building/nurturing. you’re absolutely fascinating and witty. a deep interest in life after death. a craving to experiment a lot in the bedroom, sex is a way to rebel. one word: voyerism LMFAO, seriously, others might get scared with your sexual tastes. although, you can be very detached during sex sometimes due to your fear of establishing an emotional connection. your wealth fluctuates very inconsistently. tendency to have dark thoughts. more than just on a physical sense, you want to experience a love that is transcendental.

uranus in the 9th house: your unconventional beliefs make you incredibly open-minded! you’re attracted to people who also have non-traditional views on the world and who aren’t afraid to think differently from the rest. you fluctuate between being an extremely eager, almost obsessive learner and wanting to have literal zero thoughts going on (it’s so amusing). your ideas are revolutionary and you need to feel free. this house deals with travelling, so when the planet of unconventionality is placed here, you can expect to experience all kinds of unexpected and weird things happening in your travels - if the planet is afflicted, you’ll be absolutely terrified of travelling, if not, it’ll be one of your biggest interests. you’re an avid book reader and philosophy interests you greatly. this placement indicates trouble with higher studies, because although you’re a sucker for learning, you hate doing it in a structured environment + the narrow-minded views of those who’re teaching/learning around you might make you feel trapped.

uranus in the 10th house: when the planet of eccentricity and rebellion is in the tenth house, it indicates very tense situations with authority figures - you need to do things your own way and you're capable of going through great lengths to not lose your independence in any way. freedom is the most important thing in the world to you. constant internal change. you don't care about reaching the top of the mountain, because the most important thing to you is to work somewhere where you can express your creativity. there's a potential for you to have many talents, even if it takes you time to discover them all. opportunity to become famous for your unconventionality. hates tradition. may have been raised in a strange/different way as a child. you might've been humiliated in your childhood and there's also a possibility to have traumatic memories concerning your parents esp the father. also very chaotic!!! 

uranus in the 11th house: many "friends" but a tendency to keep most at a distance out of fear of vulnerability, but still, you get very strongly attached to the closest to you. very fun to be around, crackhead energy - you make a joke out of everything. a craving for freedom and independence, you immediately throw those who try to clip your wings out of your life. attracted to people who radiate eccentricity and uniqueness; those who are afraid to be different simply bore you. might have felt rejected as a child by an authority figure. friends might get be prone to car accidents or very peculiar incidents. a love for the deeper subjects like metaphysics. very chaotic and can be very detached at times, but your honesty is the reason why you're so well-liked. you feel society's issues deep in your heart and there's an aching inside of you to communicate the problems your generation is facing and to be a pioneer in extreme change. 

uranus in the 12th house: the change that this planet gives an individual comes from within when placed in the 12th house. the intense experiences you go through force you to constantly change your ways and perspectives. you crave being of help to others and you don't even search for the recognition that comes with it, you genuinely just want to make others' lives better. big dreams and ambition. spiritual knowledge, psychic abilities - a tendency for this insight to be revealed during dreams - your dreams are very important to you and you might experience vivid dreaming or nightmares. you might have sudden breakthroughs or ideas, it's like things hit you full-force at any given moment, giving you a great surge of inspiration. there's a tendency to struggle with very simple tasks. can struggle with being shy and lacking confidence, suppressing your need to express the real, genuine you. need solitude to transform and grow as a person. 

#uranus through the houses #uranus in the houses #uranus in the 1st house #uranus in the 2nd house #uranus in the 3rd house #uranus in the 4th house #uranus in the 5th house #uranus in the 6th house #uranus in the 7th house #uranus in the 8th house #uranus in the 9th house #uranus in the 10th house #uranus in the 11th house #uranus in the 12th house #astrology #capricorn #aries #leo #sagittarius #virgo #scorpio #libra #taurus #gemini #aquarius #cancer #pisces

[animehouse-moe]

The Witch and The Beast Episode 1: The Witch and The City of Blazing Red

I'll be brutally honest: this is still a Yokohama production. Hamana brings some good work with their helming of the production, but there's still struggles. But in spite of those struggles I can't help but love this episode, and I can't help but want to talk about it. So let's talk about it.

First of all- the negatives. Characters are off model as often as they are on model, the animation is rather sparse and there's some awkward sequences throughout the episode. Some designs end up a little too simple for my tastes due to limitations with animation, and Hamana's storyboards and sense of direction do not mesh very well at all with this episode.

In spite of all of that there's still a mountain of work that I can only describe as incredible within.

For one, the environment art and art direction was superb. I was worried about how flat the colors were in the PVs, but this episode proved they're able to deliver a great deal of range on incredible environments that mesh 2D and 3D almost effortlessly. A Sign of Affection by and far has the best backgrounds in this season, but personally I'd put The Witch and The Beast as a reasonable second place (with Ishura hot on its tail).

The backgrounds in The Witch and The Beast really bring out the most in terms of style and color, really embodying Satake's modus operandi with them: very strong and full color palettes that hinge around a color or combination. It has me incredibly excited to see how they tackle other sequences in this season.

But that's about the only aspect in this episode that deserves its universal praise (aside from the OST, which is great) , the rest tend to come with a caveat. Like Hamana's boards.

I did sort of tear them apart earlier, but I'll come completely clean: there's still some really great layouts in this episode. They're not god tier and they miss out on the potential with symbolism and whatnot, but they're still damn good pieces that help sell the episode to viewers.

And then there's the animation. Hamana's boards don't really give much opportunity to effectively animate, but there's some sequences that really stand out.

Take, for example, Gideau eating. Sure, it might be a simple and short sequence but the fact that it was animated as well it was speaks volumes to the level of work that can appear with this series.

Similarly, there's this clip of a rotoscoped Gideau winding up a punch for Ione. It might be a little awkward, but the idea and execution of the rotoscoped sequence was really cool to see.

And there's a handful of other moments that express the surprisingly ability of Yokohama's animation for this series. Unfortunately we don't get much animation in Gideau's fight, but I'm hoping that we'll see better work done under more creative and involved storyboards we move along with this story.

It's overall a very middle of the road production with this first episode for sure, but I think that the bad parts are rather mild, while the good parts are quite inspiring. So rather than feeling concern or reservation with this adaptation, I oddly enough find myself excitedly waiting to see what Yokohama manages with the next episode!

#the witch and the beast #majo to yajuu #魔女と野獣 #kousuke satake #anime and manga #anime #anime reccs #anime recommendation #anime review

[levmada]

EPISODE 80 REVIEW (BC I AM LOSING MY MIND)

spoilers for the newest episode of aot (obviously)

as a manga reader i rly dont think this chapter couldve been adapted any better - the music, the darker, rustic art style, the voice acting and animation?? all so so incredible, top-tier. i think this is the high point of P2 so far.

ymir fritz has been one of my fav characters since i read the manga😭 you know you've written a great character if she has no speaking lines and yet her story still conveys itself so powerful - ymir's entire premise is that she was a slave. she suffered senseless violence and lived a life as a concubine for 13 years after having her tongue cut out.

aot draws many parallels b/n historia and f.ymir's characters, obviously. in one of the screencaps, f.ymir was holding her pregnant belly in the exact way historia was - and tho i don't rly understand why isayama (creator of aot) ever took historia in this direction in season 4, it's a very tragic turn of events for the girl who 104th ymir commanded to live for herself. im not sure, we'll see.

there were so many moments where the visual storytelling, the silence really said it all. i had chills throughout ymir's entire backstory - especially when she was blamed for releasing a pig (a conflict so senseless which is conveyed by the fact that it wasn't showed on screen) and fritz told her she was 'free' - to be hunted. not unlike faya, grisha's sister, when he took her beyond the internment zone for the first time when they were kids.

it rly rounds out aot's themes. from the very beginning, it has always been a conflict between being slaughtered by the titans and 'becoming free' by killing them, when in reality, the titans were eldians too - those subject to a long nightmare (as 104th ymir put it in S2).

it rly puts into perspective how senseless it was for her to be revered. she never seeked out the power of the titans as much as it was (seemingly) a parasite that sensed her desperation and latched onto her. without knowing any other way to live, ymir continued serving fritz bc she desperately wanted to be loved (as shown by this screencap)

so, when she sacrificed herself for fritz, perhaps to ymir the greatest act of love, and he told her nothing more than to get up - despite her powers she didn't want to go on anymore. she chose to escape to a place free from suffering, but free from love as well: Paths. she's always been a slave.

when i first saw the manga panel revealing Sina, Rose and Maria?? god what a shock. naturally, the anime rly cut down on the gore in this panel (warning for that)

when eren talked ymir into rebelling against zeke (and by extension, her existence as a slave) - showing her eyes for the first time... god it was so powerful to me. as someone who could never show her agony before, not once, who could never bare her soul - it's just incredible.

it rly felt like this episode was 5 min long. thats a testament to how good it was for me😭

also, armin and mikasa were so funny✋ im sorry. armin still choosing to believe that eren had good intentions even when the wall titans started walking is insane to me - it shows just how much trust armin put in him. it's honestly tragic.

on the bright side, zeke stans rly ate in this episode (as usual bc zeke doesn't like to wear clothes, apparently). god he looks so good.

a final note: eren's speech at the end, holy fuck it's so intimidating/awesome?? he's objectively a horrible person about to do monstrous things, but i got so many chills. the fact Mappa decided to adapt one of the most iconic panels from this arc just as it was felt so good:

Just - 10/10 episode. there's not much else to say. incredible.

MANGA SPOILERS BELOW

ALSO: i realize that the anime is skipping around, a lot. most of the episode adapted 122, only for the end, with M+A and everyone in Paths to be from the end of 123 - aka the flashback to the scouts' first expedition to marley aka levi in a suit so-

as well as the flashback of eren asking mikasa what he is to her and them all getting drunk :((

jhgjirtg

#this is my fav episode so far #(of part 2) #aot season four #attack on titan #aot #aot season 4 part 2 #snk s4 p2 #snk s4 part 2 #snk final season #aot final season #aot review #kane says

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

I have a sideblog for worldbuilding and I wanted to pin this "Islandios is an seemingly infinite sky realm with floating lamdmasses that range from supergiant continents to tiny little islets that are barely the size of a shed. These islands are traveled between by either wings, or natural and man-made bridges, or ships that are powered by magic that comes from dedication to the self and the arts and whatever else someone can care deeply about. There are 6 tiers of souls, Spirit, which gives an organism the will to live, Nature, which gives an organism the will to grow and change, Self, which gives an organism the will to explore and introspect as well as self-awareness, Flaire, which gives an organism access to the underlying veins of magic, the other two are only accessible to gods and god-adjacents, Power, which gives a god/godling power beyond what is normally capable, and Sight, which gives a god/godling sight beyond their eyes. Most plants only have one soul, while creatures always have two or more and sapient beings have three or more. Those who can manipulate flaire have four and gods/godlings have five to six souls. When each organism grows they develop a spark of the next tier of soul. I.e some plants develop Nature and crudely grows in opposite directions from where they were planted, usually growing up and down simultaneously but some do grow sideways and such." as my intro to my worldbuilding, is this sufficient enough information or are there more questions that need answering?

Feral: Sweetie, take your time! It's an intro with plenty of hooks. If this is going to be a side blog, you very specifically don't want or need to answer all the questions up front.

Utuabzu: Seems fine to start with. Like Feral says, it's a intro with plenty of hooks and further detail can be added in the actual posts. Plus, you can always replace this later on with a new version if you need to, or want to add links to important posts.

Wootzel: I second the thing about adding links to posts. If every major concept in this intro is a link to a post with more detail, plenty of people are going to go down a rabbit hole, Wikipedia style, and then be hooked on learning more (especially if you can pepper the info posts with enough character information to suck people in as far as knowing who these people are while they're reading about the concepts.)

#pylons #google submitted #blog intro