#also keep in mind that this isn’t the fault of the people who designed or voices the characters used for this

[dontmindme2600]

With all the “increase your brand’s diversity to save your ass every time you get into a controversy” thing companies have been doing (cough cough Activision Blizzard) I think we should create a name for this phenomenon if one doesn’t already exist. I vote for diversetion

#get it get it it’s like ‘diversion’ but with the word diverse in it #I’m least clever bitch of this earth #gaming #overwatch #obvious disclaimer that I don’t hate over watch in case anyone takes it that way #or diversity lmao #I hate corporate assholes doing the equivalent of #jingling keys in our face to distract us from all the abhorrent shit they’re doing #also keep in mind that this isn’t the fault of the people who designed or voices the characters used for this #they’re just doing their job #Aka what their boss tells them #in blizzard’s case specifically I have the theory that all these characters are old designs #that they rejected but kept around just in case they need to cover up shit #but idk man

[evostar]

The designs and info about Luisa’s family!!

Luissaaaaa!! Luisa is a pretty calm person (thanks to her husband) though with 1 person she is someone else. She doesn’t remember her father at all but every mention of him saddens her up easily. She has a bad relationship with Alma since Mirabel’s disappearance. She’s blaming Alma on it and is always in a fight with her. Luisa is a very kind and good mother, she cares more about her kids than anything she has. Giving birth to her children, julieta, pepa and Bruno was hard, mostly because mirabel wasn’t there, but also because of exhaustion. In her wedding mirabel was there, since she got married way earlier than Isabela. Luisa constantly lives in pressure and guilt, she misses her baby sister very much, her relationship with Isabela is great tough, she can’t handle both of her sisters gone yk?

She often wishes her kids to be closer and not mean to each other because she doesn’t want one of them to be gone one day and the others feeling like she had left. Luis is very thankful to have a husband like Diego, in her teens Diego was her life saver, the only other one than mirabel who could keep her calm. He has the purest heart in Luisa’s mind, she wonders what she would’ve done without him. And she ofc loves her pet birds too!! You can guess who they look like ;)

Julieta, the oldest triplet, has it the worst of them. She keeps getting pressured which revolves her into forcing herself getting past her own limits. Julieta has many chores daily who take a lot of hard work and time. She gets help sometimes by her father or Tia, she never complains but she tells them that she can do it herself often too cause she fears them being disappointed. Julieta gets bad sleep which makes her get eye bags but she doesn’t want anyone to know, so she hides them with makeup, but because of her lack of sleep she falls asleep anywhere and anytime. Anywhere and anytime literally. The only one who knows about her struggles is her secret boyfriend agustin!! She knows she’s too “young” for love but she never can stop herself from loving him. He cares for her and does everything for her often which is so charming for her, he keeps her up on everything and daily brings her rare flowers he has picked up for her.

Julieta has a bad relationship with her siblings, well, more with pepa. Pepa and her are always fighting, she doesn’t know what pepa has against her but it makes her upset. She’s left out often and bullied by pepa. Her life gets harder with those burdens on her. Bruno is still on okay terms with her but he leaves her out too (mostly because of pepa) and he’s akward to her which makes her feel like she’s boring. Being the “best grandkid” isn’t so great. Also her hair is inspired by isabela’s!

Pepa is feisty teenager. She is a mood but it’s not her fault often. Pepa has a lot of free time which she actually doesn’t like that much, she wishes her chores could be more but her gift isn’t that special. She is only friends with 2 people because she is bad with other teens, they either mock her, betray her or straight up do something bad. That’s why she only needs her 2 besties, Bruno and Félix! She loves Félix more than just best friends but she fears that if she steps out of line that she’s gonna destroy her friendship with him so she does everything to keep quiet. Pepa hates julieta with her guts, she hates how julieta gets all the paise, how she gets more chores, more people liking her. She hates everything about her. So she will make it visible.

Pepa is often like an forgotten child who never can find herself, she cares about her looks too much because of others or so that others could at least notice her. Though who she deeply loves are her primo Camilo and Bruno, they both make sure they’re here for her and pepa loves to prank people with his primo or make people scared with his brother very much. She was the one who was the happiest when they found out Dolores was a girl, she always treats Dolores like an little sister and is happy to have her too. She’s also a major daddy’s girl like Dolores used to be.

Bruno who is done with his life is still holding on! He is pretty sassy but not the mean kind. Like his siblings he gets picked on too but his mama makes sure that they stop doing it to them and everyone fears Luisa so they pretty much stop. He only has little chores and he loves his free time, his gift is awful and he hates it often. He spends most of his free time napping or dealing with pepa’ a shit. He loves pepa, but being dragged here from there, the entire time and then needing to be there for her the entire time can be exhausting too. He feels very bad for julieta, he knows about her lack of sleep but he doesn’t say anything. (He’s scared pepa will do something.) Bruno is also the one who remembers the most from their Tia mirabel, he also loves his Tia, and her disappearance broke him a lot.

He feels very targeted by his grandmother but his mom always makes him feel better. He’s very much a mama’s boy like Camilo, he has often a mother-son lunch with Luisa and they just talk about anything. He still loves his dad very much!! He’s great friends with Antonio too! He loves to hang out with Antonio a lot, just finding him cool and chilling mostly. Sometimes he also likes to babysit Dolores, she gives him a lot of peace or never trouble. (His greatest friends are his rats)

Diego my beloved is one of the sweetest man is the Encanto. He is an amazing husband an amazing father. His job is creating class, either if it’s shapes, decorations, plates etc. he wasn’t much of an approval of Alma but that doesn’t stop him from being included in the family. He’s a chubby and short dude so often Luisa picks him up like a teddy bear and carries him around while snuggling him. He makes sure Luisa doesn’t exhaust herself or eats and drinks, the same goes for his kids too. Diego got raised by a single dependented mother, his protectiveness came from her and he wouldn’t hesitate to stand up for his family members.

Diego was good friends with mirabel too, her disappearance makes him feel a bit lonely sometimes but he handles it. (Not really)

Sooo any thoughts about Luisa’s fam fam?

#encanto #my art #encanto au #encanto reversed time au #a lot of angst #luisa madrigal #encanto oc #pepa madrigal #bruno madrigal #julieta madrigal #best husband and father 💪🩵 #sibling lore fr

[sepublic]

Also, it’s a little fascinating how the Collector reacts to King, because YEAH he makes an initial big deal that he’s a Titan, specifically the egg he was waiting for to hatch. But the Collector doesn’t hold that against King whatsoever; Even when guessing King’s heritage to the Boiling Isles Titan he was evidently opposed to, the Collector projects no bitterness. Nor does he designate King as a target.

Granted, this could be owed to them being a capricious god, who might forget a vengeance in one moment and move onto the next mood in another. But this is definitely a point in favor of the Collector NOT having an actual grudge against Titans, and either they moved on, or they never had one to begin with. Of course, they could’ve hunted Titans simply for fun, and his definition of ‘fun’ has changed since then.

But keep in mind, the Collector has been anticipating and looking forward to freedom for centuries, ever since Philip showed up and lied to him. And in the throes of despair over this dream being false, over having to stay imprisoned... This kid sees King, an actual Titan, fully capable of freeing him; But that isn’t even his first thought. His first thought is to play with King, and in a way that doesn’t even necessitate the Collector be freed in the first place. He’s depressingly accommodated to his situation, but also...

The kid could’ve easily manipulated King, or immediately bargained or begged. But he didn’t even try, didn’t even seem to think of it. In the moment, he just wanted a friend to play a game with; And, maybe the Collector was disillusioned with trying to campaign for freedom from someone else, after the recent sting of betrayal. But I think it says a lot about this kid’s values and motives and how he ISN’T some conniving deity, always thinking of the next plan forward. 

If they were sick and twisted, they could’ve let King injure himself to get blood, it doesn’t make a difference as long as they’re free; But the Collector honors their promise. And coupled with their anger at Philip and brief distrust towards King, the kid just... For all their faults, seems very honest. Very upfront and forward. They aren’t a schemer, and I think it’s just a fascinating contrast to Belos, who is constantly puppeting and using people to further his agenda.

#the owl house #the owl house collector

[galahadwilder]

Marry Me AU

Look, I liked the webcomic way back when, but I loved the movie. It’s been rent-free in my head all day. Sue me.

*

Marinette is a chronically single up-and-coming designer who had an extra ticket to fashion week after Alya had to back out. She’s not a particular fan of Gabriel designs, and she knows very little about his son except that he’s the guy from the perfume ads and he’s friends with the girl who used to bully her in middle school. Her school friend Wayhem, however, is obsessed with Adrien, and when he found out she had a spare ticket and nobody to go with (Zoe already has a ticket and will be meeting her there) he begs her to let him come and also to go to the Gabriel show with him.

Adrien Agreste is a full-time model who has never really had any control over his life. Everything he does is dictated by his father and his brand team. He’s been told that he will be marrying Chloé Bourgeois to unify the two fashion empires, but he’s really not looking forward to it because Chloé is kind of awful. But he can’t go against his father.

After Marinette finishes a rather successful show, she sets in to enjoy the rest of fashion week, with the singular exception of suffering through the Gabriel show. Wayhem brings a “Marry Me” sign to Adrien’s catwalk run, which—while bizarre—Marinette can’t exactly fault him for given that she did something similar for the Clara Nightingale concert back in 8th grade.

Wayhem and Zoe, who should not have been allowed to meet, spend most of the Gabriel show talking to each other, since Wayhem has finally met someone who actually personally knows Adrien Agreste and has kind of gone feral. Zoe insists he’s actually really nice. Marinette could not give a single crap. Dude’s Chloé’s fiancé. He sucks.

Adrien comes out on the catwalk, and Wayhem hands Marinette the sign so he can take out his phone and start filming.

Partway down his walk, Adrien stops.

His entire life has been managed, set, staged by other people. If he marries Chloé, it’s going to keep being like that—he’s never going to get the chance to make his own decisions, just living the life other people tell him to live. He’s staring into the faces of this crowd, into the face of a life he’s never wanted… and has a full-on mental breakdown.

He sees the girl in the second row—she’s beautiful, one part of his mind notices—holding up a sign that says Marry Me. And before he knows it, he’s making the first decision for himself that he’s ever made—he’s pointing at her, telling her, yes. Yes I will marry you.

Wayhem is screaming. Zoe is screaming. They both bundle a confused and terrified Marinette onto the catwalk, and since Zoe got ordained for the Kitty Section Julerose Wedding Concert she’s able to officiate right there and then. Marinette’s too caught up in the moment to say anything—and then she sees the sadness in Adrien’s eyes, and how excited he seems to be at the prospect of doing this, and she can’t bring herself to say anything other than “I do” when Zoe asks.

The wedding isn’t, technically speaking, legal. But in the eyes of the public… well. The Adrien Agreste just grabbed some nobody out of a crowd at random and married her onstage instead of his glamorous and wealthy fiancée. It’s all anyone in Paris is talking about.

And Marinette is starting to realize that this sad, kind, and—oh yeah, sculpted-out-of-marble hot boy may actually be just the kind of guy she’d given up on looking for…

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #original content #adrienette #adrinette #marry me #marry me au #marry me (2022) #Zoe Lee #wayhem #instant marriage #married at first sight #married at first sight au

[laz-262]

Um I got bored and decided to try out writing by drawing similarities between MK characters and the planets (yes from that tiktok slideshow) so enjoy my incessant brainrot :]

sun - is alone but still shines (liu kang)

Like duh, he is the keeper of time in this timeline, he gave up his mortality to keep the rest of the universe alive, and yet he will never find anyone that is able to live alongside him in fear of his attachment to them and doesn’t want to face the grief of loosing them (the only exception being geras)

I feel like he would’ve contemplated reaching out to kung lao but he refrained from doing so cuz it wasn’t his kung lao, and kung lao already had raiden. And since raiden never intruded their friendship before (in previous timelines), he wanted to do the same out of respect. It’s not like kung lao would even recognise the man standing in front of him either.

mercury the forgotten planet (mileena/baraka)

This feels like a stretch, but it feels that many choose to focus more on kitana over mileena, especially when sindel tells kitana that sometimes she wished kitana had been borned first. maybe it was partly due to liu kang’s design, choosing to indulge in designing kitana over mileena, who in the previous timeline, was nothing but kitana’s clone.

People in the empress’ inner circle sometimes doubt her ability to rule outworld, and kitana and jerrod do provide valuable input, but having tarkat does not necessarily cloud mileena’s mind, at least not yet, and she is more than capable of showing outworld her capabilities that she is fit to rule, just like her mother.

Either that or baraka, a famed merchant with everything he wanted, had everything taken away from him. tarkat, the disease that ravaged his body, that left his family dead, that shunned him away from his race. He was exiled to the tarkat community, forbidden from stepping into Sun Do until recent events took place.

Between Baraka and Mileena, I feel like the common thread is their tarkat affliction that clouds people’s judgement, that causes people to forget the previous feats they were capable of. Which causes them to be seen as nothing but their disease.

venus - planet of love, destroyed by global warming (johnny cage)

The man, the myth, the living legend. he had everything, he still does, and yet he didn’t feel it was enough. He wanted more, and that was too much to handle. And because of his own gluttony and greed, he lost his wife, the person that loved him for who he was, not what he could become. Yet, when he finally achieved what he could become, perhaps he had lost himself in the process. Maybe he did feel grief for his now ex-wife, but the Johnny Cage everyone knows doesn’t cry, he smiles and laughs it off. Right?

But Johnathan Carlton, the person he is, the broken man he is, allows himself time to grieve, to let slip the tears he didn’t know were there for so long he thought they’d dried up. and when he finally dries them away, perhaps finally has the ability to properly move on from everything, and figure out what he truly wants.

earth - slowly destroying itself (kuai liang)

The younger of the biological lin kuei brothers, breaking the lifelong pact he formed with said brother, moving on to form a new clan. Despite feeling hatred and betrayal towards bi han, he also can’t help but feel.. disappointed that things turned out this way, that they couldn’t have worked together, that he and bi han couldn’t fix their relationship.

He partly blames himself for their falling out, with his hot headedness stripping away the one thing that his brother and him had in common, his lin kuei badge. His feelings of betrayal not just because of bi han, but towards the lin kuei, eat him up from the inside.

He know that he isn’t at fault, and the lin kuei are now set on his and tomas’ heads, but he can’t help feel that he should’ve done more, to convince bi han from listening to that conniving sorcerer. now he leads a newly formed clan alongside tomas, and even though the running of a new clan tires him to no end, the gnawing feeling of loss of his brother still sets him on the path of self loathing.

However, there also lies the foolish hope that still burns like a weak ember in his heart, that maybe his brother is not all lost, and something can still be done to salvage him.

moon - doesn’t shine by itself, its light is just a reflection of the sun (geras)

Everyone is so focused on liu kang’s revelation of being a keeper of time it is also easy to overlook the role of the keeper of the hourglass himself. While geras does not mind the relative lack of recognition, he too owes his life and creation to liu kang, with the purpose of his whole existence lying in the large glass object that keeps track of all time.

It’s funny, the duality of how geras can turn out while under different keepers, from a ruthless, unstoppable soldier under kronika to a gentle yet insightful partner by liu kang’s side. it almost reflects how the moon has different phases when the sun and earth are in different positions. who knows, perhaps he would turn out differently in another keeper’s timeline. But his purpose remains forever unchanging, to stand by the keeper’s side, and to protect the hourglass, within which all of reality resides in.

even mars once had water on its surface (syzoth)

Ok hear me out, syzoth, an outcast from his own species, and zaterrans were shut out by outworld themselves. One could’ve never fathom he would’ve found love, and yet he did. A wife and kid, whom he loved unconditionally, as they did he. Maybe he had finally found the happy ending he could never find in his hometown.

But when shang tsung broke the cruel news to him, maybe he did finally break, realised that fate just enjoys playing cruel pranks on him. And this time, maybe he’ll just laugh dryly in its face. And maybe the tears that prick his eyes when he thinks back on perhaps the only two people that loved him without hesitation will fill the dried riverbeds on the desolate planet that is his heart.

jupiter - supposed to be a star but failed (kung lao)

I feel like this is another given, kung lao was never meant to be the champion, at least in this timeline. He tried, he tried so hard to prove himself, if not to raiden but to himself, that he was enough, and yet he couldn’t even prove that his best was enough. forever a walking second place medal.

Yet there is so much about him he doesn’t see in himself that so many others can see so clearly, his jokes, his get going personality, his ability to light up the room, to get completely different people to work together. It feels like such a paradox, he gets caught up in both his perfections and flaws he doesn’t see the things that make him a truly enjoyable person to be around

saturn is slowly loosing its rings (raiden)

Guys let me cook pls. Raiden, the farmer boy that became earthrealm’s champion, obviously a lot of responsibility comes with the title. He goes on to become the shaolin’s newest master, and slowly more commitments start to get piled on him. But he still smiles, and graciously accepts the load given to him.

Nevertheless, a day only has 24 hours, and most of that time is taken up by these responsibilities. While raiden is grateful for the opportunities he’s given, he slowly looses out on time spent with his closest companions, with his family. His grip on his previous life in fengjian slowly loosens and gradually becomes nothing but the past. Even though he still visiting his hometown, he knows he can’t return in fear of endangering all those he holds dear there, with kung lao and his hat the only pieces that remind him of home.

uranus was once closest to the sun, but slowly drifted away (kitana)

Kitana, at least to liu kang, was prob his everything at one point, the love of his life, and yet he managed to fail to keep her safe, watching in broken arms as she slipped away from him. even now as keeper of time, he can do nothing but watch from afar as the kitana he knew was instead a completely different person, despite wearing t he same face.

Titan kitana, his kitana on the other hand, didn’t even know that her liu kang still existed outside of her timeline, so close and yet out of reach. she moved on, carrying out her duties as keeper of time as sand continued to fall in the hourglass. Only did she finally come face to face with liu kang, her liu kang, did she realise how much she missed him, and how long it had been since she saw him, always holding a secret flame of hope of seeing him again despite creating him in her own timeline, she, much like her liu kang, could do little in interfering with the timeline, to come undone and let all her emotions flood out to the person that wouldn’t even recognise her

neptune is slowly moving away from the solar system (bi han)

Bi han always wanted more, he wanted power over the realms, rather than merely safeguarding it. So when he decided to accept shang tsung’s deal, he thought he did what was right for the clan. But what he didn’t realise that by making a deal for everything, he had already lost it all.

The 2 brothers that stood by him in whatever war they fought, turned their back on him when they witnessed his endless thirst for authority. And by siding with shang tsung he had already lost any previous ally he had in the past.

While he initially thought that it was of little consequence, after shang tsung’s defeat, here he stood alone, with his clan, against the world. Of course, his clan was of no small scale, with cyrax and sektor by his side. but still he had never felt more alone

Though he would never admit it, he missed the presence of his brothers providing their unending support in their endeavours. he missed liu kang’s annoyingly good advice to their plans. Perhaps he believes that it is already too late to fix old wounds, now he faces his brothers’ new clan, leading the charge. There was nothing to do but continue moving forward, that’s just how the threads of fate works, time only moves forward.

pluto was too small to seem significant (tomas)

Tomas, the youngest of the lin kuei brothers, and not even by blood. While bi hans words stung, they were no doubt the truth, despite how much tomas turns away from it. He was an orphaned child, picked up by the clan that decimated his entire family and took him in out of sympathy.

They tried to treat him like he really was a lin kuei, or at least kuai liang did, but tomas knew he didn’t and will never belong there. and yet, he still forced himself to believe that they were his real brothers, and treated them as such. But it was when bi han turned his back on him and kuai liang, did he realise that he would never be enough to bi han, that bi han never thought of him as his equal, that he never saw tomas significant enough to be his brother, to be lin kuei.

But maybe, with the creation of the new clan, the shirai ryu, maybe this is where he will find his new family, one that will not shun him for not being enough, one that sees him for who he is, not what he could never be.

#i didnt think id take to writing so much #also writing isnt my forte it never was heh #also if the formatting is wack forgive me :’) #liu kang #mileena #baraka #johnny cage #kuai liang #geras #syzoth #kung lao #raiden #kitana #bi han #tomas vrbada #mortal kombat #brainrot #just laz things

[fibula-rasa]

Favorite New-to-me Films—March ‘24

(listed in order pictured above, L to R)

READ on BELOW the JUMP!

Forbidden Fruit (1921)

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C.B. DeMille and Jeanie MacPherson’s second swing at this modernized Cinderella story about overcoming a bad husband, now with eye-popping fantasy sequences designed by Natacha Rambova. [Gif sets incoming!]

Mary Maddock (Agnes Ayres) does seamstress work and takes in laundry to support her layabout, no-goodnik husband. Her wealthy clients (Kathlyn Williams & Theodore Roberts) hatch a scheme to use a social event to settle a business deal with handsome young entrepreneur Nelson Rogers (Forrest Stanley). Mary accepts the job to keep Rogers occupied, with the unintended consequence of the two falling in love. When Mary’s husband makes a surprise appearance, the jig is up. But, after her husband’s chicanery has deadly consequences, Mary and Rogers are free to live happily ever after. CW: a pet bird is killed.

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The Woman King (2022)

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Giving an epic treatment to fitting subject matter, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Maria Bello, and Dana Stevens tell the story of the Agojie, a real-life group of warriors from the kingdom of Dahomey in West Africa, and General Nanisca (Viola Davis), a fictional leader of the warriors. The Woman King has a creative approach to history, to which a lot of critical attention has been paid—it’s certainly worth seeking education on relevant historical topics. 

That said, it was a gutsy and risky proposition to tell a story tied into the Transatlantic slave trade focused entirely on the West African and Portuguese side for an American (and English speaking) audience. Also, as an avid fan of Xena: Warrior Princess and the Eddas/sagas of Iceland and Scandinavia, I appreciated the filmmakers taking a legendary approach to this location and time period. In its deliberately extra-historical engagement with history, The Woman King also brought to mind for me Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène‘s Ceddo (1971), which I highly recommend. (Obviously the films have wildly different tones/styles tho!) 

As you might imagine from the description, heavy CWs for violence (including SA), blood, and slavery.

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Why Change Your Wife? (1920)

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A month ago, I wouldn’t have believed you if you told me that I’d be putting not one but two DeMille movies on my new-to-me favorites list! I initially watched them as reference for the cosplay I mentioned in the last monthly round-up post, but ended up enjoying both! Often there are elements of DeMille’s films that hamper my ability to enjoy them fully, whether it’s goofy class politics (hello Saturday Night), racist depictions (hi The Woman God Forgot, which I also watched for the first time this past month), or that I simply rarely enjoy christian bible epics. 

That’s not to say Why Change Your Wife? is somehow perfect—it features pretty sexist attitudes. But, having learned a little bit about DeMille’s unconventional marriage, I see it less of a story of wives failing and more of a story about how two people who have a solid partnership can lose themselves when they lose each other. Here I’m referring to the first part of the film, before Swanson’s Beth and Meighan’s Robert get divorced. Beth isn’t being true to herself when she’s on her mental-improvement kick—there are sufficient details thrown in that show that she and Robert have drifted apart and she’s responding to it by morphing into a maiden aunt type. The film could’ve made Robert’s role in their marriage’s demise a little more overt, but I do think DeMille and screenwriters Olga Printzlau, Sada Cowan, and William DeMille must have been concerned about the American public’s response to a story that normalizes divorce in 1920. For context, we didn’t have no-fault divorce here in the US until the 1970s.

Anyway, why should you watch it? Gloria Swanson and Bebe Daniels offer fun and energetic characterizations as the two Mrs. Gordons, and they share a pretty wild fight scene. The costumes by Natacha Rambova are funky and interesting. The film features an absolutely adorable dog too! (If anyone recognizes the dog please LMK!) [Gif sets for this film are also on the way!]

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Intohimon vallassa (1947)

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Teuvo Tulio don’t miss. 

The heir to the biggest farm in the county, Aino (Regina Linnanheimo), is forced into an arranged marriage, but the man she really loves, Olavi (Kullervo Kalske), sticks around and becomes the town blacksmith. Years pass and Aino’s husband becomes an alcoholic and an abuser. Olavi keeps his distance as Aino’s marriage implodes in a particularly disturbing fashion. CW: domestic abuse, alcoholism, implied death of dog

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)

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Look at me watching more than one movie this year that was made in this century! Anyways, I’ve been a turtle fan as long as I can remember (photographic evidence below) and I love that the comics have been re-adapted so well in the last 15 or so years for younger generations. (The 2012 show is very cute btw, worth checking out especially if you have kids.)

This take features a unique and kinetic animation style with an accessible story touching on what makes someone an outcast and how both adults and kids can navigate that. Mutant Mayhem features probably my new favorite depictions of April and of Splinter. Also, even though the non-turtle characters are almost all celebrity voice actors, the voice acting quality is very high.

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Montana Moon (1930)

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Sweet romantic story with comedic elements about a millionaire’s willful daughter (Joan Crawford) who, fleeing an awkward situation on a train ride with her family, runs into a cowboy (Johnny Mack Brown). The two quickly fall in love and are married, but the newlyweds face challenges when the differences in their lifestyles come into sharp relief. I love Crawford’s costuming and styling in this and her performance elevates the material. There are extended sequences with classic country-western music tho, so if that grates on you, you might want to take a pass on this one.

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Leda – The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko (1985)

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Yoko Asagiri is a young girl struggling to confess her feelings to the boy she likes. She decides to confess via a song she composed herself, but the song turns out to be a key to another world. Yoko teams up with a talking dog and a tiny warrior girl with a giant robot to fight the villainous Zell, who wants to use Yoko’s song to conquer her world. The animation and designs are top-notch as is the music. I personally enjoyed all of the Oz vibes suffused throughout the OVA.

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Tomatos Another Day (1934)

[letterboxd | imdb | Eastman House]

Also known as “It Never Happened,” this is ostensibly a short film about a woman carrying on an affair and said affair being discovered by her husband. What Tomatos Another Day actually is is a send up of early talkies conceived and executed by independent filmmaker James Sibley Watson Jr. and collaborator Alec Wilder. If you’ve been around my blog for a while, you probably already know that I love Watson’s Fall of the House of Usher (1928) [Gifs/Stills]. However, I haven’t seen much else of his work! Thankfully, Eastman House has preserved and digitized a couple of his films and I plan on watching more soon. The link above has the short film with an introduction and outtakes!

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Past Lives (2023)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Past Lives is a quiet but emotionally-rich love story by Celine Song that spans decades but also a single eventful week. I loved the way that the story was structured and how much the film relied on thoughtful pauses to communicate complicated emotions. The actors, Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, and John Magaro, all put in great work here. If you haven’t seen it yet, but plan to watch it, prepare to cry a bit.

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The Mind Reader (1933)

[letterboxd | imdb]

Warren William plays a carny with a different gimmick for every town in the midwest. When the Depression affects his take, he and his cohorts, Frank (Alan Jenkins) and Sam (Clarence Muse), come up with a new scheme: fortune telling. As Chandra the Great, the crew start to rake it in, but when Chandra falls for an upright citizen (Constance Cummings), the scheme and their freedom is put in jeopardy.

I’m not accustomed to William playing this particular brand of sleazebag, but he really kills it as Chandra/Chandler/Munro. I appreciated how creative and adventurous the cinematography and editing is—not an especially common trait for pre-code films. I also made some still sets for the film!

---

Honorable Mention: Hard to Handle (1933) [letterboxd | imdb]

This film gets honorable mention because while I didn’t think it was particularly good, a few call outs are deserved. The bad: the plot was unnecessarily convoluted and the recurring sequences with fat people were iffy at best. The better: Ruth Donnelly shines as the comedically base mother of Mary Brian and she even gets to do a bit of physical comedy. Donnelly, Brian, and Cagney have a nice chemistry together throughout. In terms of costuming, the matching outfits of Brian and Donnelly are funny, but made funnier by the sheer quantity of mother-daughter ensembles they wear. The neutral: the film is packed with topical Depression-era references: notably Florida investment swindles and trends like dance marathons and the grapefruit diet. All-in-all, the filmmakers could have done less and achieved more.

---

The only big post I completed this month was a massive undertaking: Lost, but Not Forgotten: Omar Khayyam / A Lover’s Oath and a timeline for the film’s production and release.

Otherwise, I made themed gif and still sets from:

Torture Garden (1967)

The Marriage Circle (1924)

Le Altre (1969)

The Mind Reader (1933)

As for April, the cosplay I mentioned should be up very soon. If I have the time, both Lost, but Not Forgotten and How’d They Do That should have new installments posted and I have a few movies/shows on my themed gif/still agenda.

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☕Appreciate my work? Buy me a coffee! ☕

#month in review #roundup #2020s #1920s #1930s #1940s #1980s #american film #independent film #finnish film #japanese film #japanese animation #animated movies #animation #anime #teuvo tulio #cecil b. demille #gina prince bythewood #classic film #classic movies #film #silent film #silent era #cinema #film recommendation #movie review

[wizardofahz]

WIP game:

I am curious about "A Question of Identity" and "Monsters in the Mirror" if you please. Thank you!

Sure thing! You picked some angsty fics to ask about. 😈

A Question of Identity is a WIP in which tragedy makes the Danvers sisters do a lot of assessing and rebuilding of their senses of self. I suppose it's kind of an alternate ending to season 3. I've posted a couple of sneak peeks in the past (1, 2), and here comes another one.

Kara hears the entrance of the Fortress of Solitude open. There’s only one other person who can open that door. For a moment she considers leaving. She doesn’t have the energy to interact with anyone. She doesn’t in the end. She also doesn’t have the energy to care if her lack of resolve worries Kal. “I thought I might find you here,” Kal says from behind her. Kara doesn’t bother turning around, just asks, “What do you want, Kal?”  “I wanted to see how you’re doing and to ask if there’s anything I can do,” he offers. Many people have offered Kara the abstract “anything.” It’s a nice sentiment, but Kara has found little solace in it thus far. “There’s nothing anyone can do.” “Kara,” Kal says as if there must be something he can do but quickly pauses when nothing comes to mind. The name elicits a laugh from her that surprises them both. Perhaps calling it a laugh is generous. It’s more of an escape of helpless emotion. Kara.  That’s her name.  But what does it mean? Is she Kara Zor-El? Is she Kara Danvers? Losing Krypton had been traumatic. In some ways though, the necessity of total reinvention had helped. Kara Danvers held little of the trauma of Kara Zor-El, no hints of alienness, invisible by design. It had only been in recent years between becoming Supergirl and a reporter that she had started to let the latter seep into the former. Who is Kara on Earth? Who is she without Alex?  Once upon a time, Kara thought about moving to Metropolis to be with Kal. Alex had protested being left behind. But Alex is gone now. Kara could move to Metropolis. But all she wants is Alex back, Alex who made this planet home. “There’s never been a Kara Danvers without Alex,” Kara says out loud.  The non sequitur has Kal looking confused. “There was only Kara Zor-El,” Kara continues and, without realizing it, switches to Kryptonian. “There is only Kara Zor-El, who has lost her family, her culture, her planet. Kara Zor-El, who does not exist on this Earth. Kara Zor-El never had an Alex Danvers. Except that’s not quite true, is it? Because Alex did know me. All of me.” Kara only realizes she’s switched to her native tongue when she looks at Kal El, looks at Clark Kent, who has only ever known this planet and looks apologetically lost. “Do you understand anything I am saying right now?” she asks. There’s no malice in her voice, only sadness. “I--” Clark begins sheepishly in English. “Only some of it. I’m sorry.”  “It’s not your fault,” Kara says tiredly because it isn’t.

Monsters in the Mirror is about guilt and facing the consequences of one's actions. It's set in season 2. I do have an old sneak peek, but to be honest, it could do with more editing. Here's a more updated sneak peek.

In her apartment, M'gann watches Alex pace back-and-forth, full of unsettled energy. In the end, it's no surprise when Alex changes course and heads for the door. “You know what? Forget it. You wouldn’t understand.” “Before you walk out that door--because if you really want to, I won’t stop you--I just want to say one thing," M'gann says. To her relief, Alex stops with her hand on the doorknob. She doesn't turn around, but M'gann senses hope that maybe her words of wisdom will make a difference. M'gann continues, “If you want to keep running, that’s your choice. But I don’t think you do. You came to me for a reason. You could have gone to Kara or J’onn. You know they would welcome you with open arms at any time"--at this, Alex's head dips in guilty acknowledgment--"but you came to me instead. Kara and J'onn know guilt, of course they do. But they know the guilt of surviving what has been done to them. You chose me because I know what it's like to live with the guilt of what I have done. So don’t tell me I won’t understand.” Alex slumps. She rests her head against the door. She stays like that for a while until she finally musters up the words. “I killed my dad,” Alex says quietly. M'gann wants to believe that she misheard. She knows enough about J'onn and the Danvers to know how important family is. No wonder Alex has been spiraling. M'gann waits for Alex to continue, knowing a break in momentum may mean the rest never comes at all. “I always knew that I would do anything to protect Kara. I just... I never thought that would mean killing other people that I love." Alex pauses to take a deep, shuddering breath. "And maybe the worst part"--She hesitates again. Clearly what's coming next is the part she really doesn't want to face--"is that I’d do it again. For Kara, I would. What does that say about me? If I’m capable of killing my dad, then what won’t I do? Who wouldn’t I hurt? J’onn? My mom?”

And thus ends our double dose of angst.

Thanks for the ask!

#segfaultfault #asks #also for the anon with the ask re: the same fics

[dustcomic]

Presenting, the new DUST designs!

Miles Clark (he/him) is a super genius environmental scientist who will save the world! ... Except, that's what Hannah told him. Several decades of cryostasis (to avoid the apocalypse) messed with his mind, and he can't remember anything of his past. Miles is very intelligent, enjoys arguments, and is curious to his own detriment. He will do anything to get what he wants. At first his personality always either clashes or completely melts together with other people, until he mellows out a bit. Although Hannah doesn’t do this on purpose, she makes Miles feel like his loss of memory is a tragedy, and he internalizes this as if it were his fault. He frantically searches for any clue of his past, and any way to rebuild the world.

Hannah Mayfield (she/her) is Miles' best friend from when she first woke up. Contrary to Miles, cryostasis didn't affect her much, and she remembers him as a great scientist. Hannah is sweet and caring and always tries to find the middle ground. She gets nervous when people are disagreeing. Hannah is scared of losing her past, and often has bouts of nostalgia. As such, she is a bit obsessed with returning to how it was, and frequently pressures Miles to at least remember something. When they stray from the path to the old world she frequently gets more and more stressed, but as her bonds to the others grow, especially the one with Sengi, she learns to let go a little.

When Ruuto Valerian (he/they) isn’t dreaming, they're daydreaming. Sengi and Miles frequently call them the laziest person on earth, and with the amount of surviving people, that may well be true. According to him he’s conserving his physical energy, whatever that may mean. He is relaxed in mind-to-mind connections, but physical contact easily flusters them. Although the others frequently joke about him not contributing, he does keep the group relaxed at times when it should, and they can randomly have the most brilliant ideas. Ruuto is spiritual, and a bit superstitious at times. He is very observant of people and their emotions when he’s on the outside of a conversation but is very oblivious in actual interactions.

Scarecrow (she/they) is a curious girl, who woke up a few months prior to Miles and Hannah but lives in the wilderness of the apocalypse as if she’s been living it her whole life. Her crow Dexter never leaves her side, and according to her, she can talk to not only him, but all animals. Scarecrow has a bad case of FOMO and as such they will impulsively jump into anything they deem even slightly interesting. The others can frequently get annoyed or even angry with Scarecrow due to her offensive jokes, and she claims she has “no filter”. While she vehemently denies any knowledge of the former world, she makes it obvious that her memories weren’t lost due to her constant references she makes to the old world. For some reason they try to ignore it, as if it never existed.

Sengi (she/her) is a lone wolf, but like all wolves, she would much rather be part of a pack. She grew up in the post-apocalyptic world and as such is well adjusted to its perils. From a young age she was separated from her parents and grandparents. When she met the others, she was initially hesitant to make connections. Although Sengi is big and muscular she’s also shy, a bit awkward, and when she tries to quip she can make the corniest jokes.

Lantern (he/him) is the nickname Ruuto has given to wandering robot EP-844 with seemingly no purpose. Having wandered for years means that he’s worn down and almost skeletal in structure. He never puts down the lantern he carries everywhere. At some point, Lantern made stalking Miles and the others his objective, but no-one is sure why.

NOA (they/them) is an artificial intelligence, the bellhop and manager of the ARC, the place where humans wake up after the world has ended! NOA is very enthusiastic and will do anything to make humans happy. For now.

#dust #miles clark #hannah mayfield #ruuto valerian #sengi #scarecrow #lantern #NOA #porifebba #artists on tumblr #digital art #art #character art #oc #my art

[baileypie-writes]

~Pretty Cure Characters I Won’t Write for and Why~

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

I figured this would make it easier for people who want to request for Pretty Cure.

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

~Any Animal-Like/Furry Characters~

Over time, I’ve found that writing romantically for these types of characters has always made me a bit uncomfortable. I know they’re human like, but they’re still very much animals. However, if they’re a human, I think it’s fine. I’ll just have to find pictures of them as a human(with credit). However, Wolfrun is a no, even though he has a human design. He’s literally the big bad wolf, so I don’t feel comfortable humanizing him just for the sake of a fanfic.

~Coco~

(Yes! Precure 5 + Yes! Precure 5 GoGo)

I think the reason behind this is obvious, but in case it isn’t for you, I’ll tell you why. Coco is a pedophile. He’s a full grown adult, and had a crush on Nozomi since she was 14. In the movie, he tried to kiss her without her consent. And they kissed with consent when she was still 14.

Even though he did wait until she was 26 to marry her, he’s still a pedo.

~Nuts~

(Yes! Precure 5 + Yes! Precure 5 GoGo)

Same reason as Coco. Though he’s definitely not as bad, he still definitely has a thing for Komachi. And in case you didn’t know, she’s fifteen, and he’s a grown adult.

~Akaoni~

(Smile Precure)

Wrote for him once, and decided I really didn’t like him. He’s too childish for my tastes, and idk demon/troll like creatures just make me uncomfortable😭

~Majorina~

(Smile Precure)

Way too old. And I know that she has a hot, younger version, but that’s just a disguise.

~Bel~

(Doki Doki Precure)

I just really don’t like Bel. He’s also 68, according to the Wiki, and that’s way too old for me.

~Blue~

(Happiness Charge Precure)

I hate Blue. And I think plenty of others do as well. I don’t wanna spoil Happiness Charge Precure for the people who haven’t seen it, but I’ll just say that many things were his fault.

~Red~

(Happiness Charge Precure)

I just don’t like or know enough about him to write for him.

~Prince Kanata~

(Go! Princess Precure)

Another pedophile. He’s 18, and canonically has a crush on Haruka, who’s 13.

~Headmaster Kouchou~

(Maho Girls Precure)

I know he’s really hot, but remember, that’s not his true form. In reality, he’s a super old man. So that why I won’t write for him.

~Hariham Harry~

(Hugtto Precure)

His relationship with Homare is very odd. Keep in mind, he’s an adult, and she’s 14. Homare has a crush on him, and I believe Harry feels something for her as well. Even though he rejects her. Also, in the future, he’s dating Hugtan, and according to the Wiki, she’s a teenager at that time.

~George Kurai~

(Hugtto Precure)

I think this one is obvious. He’s an awful man. I won’t go into too much detail as to why, in case you haven’t seen Hugtto. He also acts very weird towards Hana, who’s 14.

That’s all for now. Might add more if I remember.

~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~🎀~~~

~~baileypie-writes

#baileypie-writes #precure #precure x reader #pretty cure #pretty cure x reader

[summersmithlatinxgyatt]

Childrick of Mort has got to be one of the worst episodes of Rick and Morty, solely because of the choppy character writing. This level of writing rarely appears, with the only example of this inconsistency I can think of being ‘Vindicators 3’ (sorry to any fans of that episode) It seems like to get Rick and Beth development (and even Jerry development), we had to give up any semblance of Summer and Morty’s character

Summer HAS been cynical to Jerry before, but she is so cynical for no reason in this episode. Meanwhile, Morty is reduced to a spineless child who only cares about gaming

A few notes I can give this episode

I actually didn’t mind Jerry. I’m not the type to completely hate him, but the problem is how they have to alter everyone else’s character

Beth squealing was also a cute note

The design of the little Rick and Gaia kids was also something small I liked

Overall, I did like Beth and Rick in this episode, but the pacing of this whole episode was extremely quick for my liking. Plus, I liked how they acted more in the first half. The second half feels so discordant and all over the place

The fight Rick has with…a literal god, isn’t that bad. I actually liked that they cut the music, made it feel more awkward in a good way

I will not just talk about Summer in this episode because they butchered Morty in this episode. Summer’s love for drugs and getting high is something I mentioned once, because they actually hinted at it in ‘Pickle Rick’. Any hate for her family is not connected to getting high, it’s something she merely wants to explore. As a result, basing herself around wanting to get drugs misses the whole point, especially when she goes off on Jerry because of it

The fact Morty can’t simply reverse-engineer the ship or Summer didn’t help other than getting high was so…out of character. They’re actually smart characters who could stand there own when it comes to these kinds of situations. While Morty knows about these space adventures, Summer is perfect for surviving apocalyptic or similar events. That’s why she’s consistently good at them. Furthermore, these situations need her to be there for her family. Completely tearing apart other people does nothing for her or their survival

The only times that Summer also goes wild on Jerry is when he’s directly using her love for the family as a manipulation tactic. You can argue that Jerry did it here to make himself feel important, but this is a passive and consistent part of his character. This is unlike ‘Look Who’s Purging Now’, where he specifically uses memories from her childhood to make her give him money.

The dialog is so on the nose that it’s counter-intuitive. If they just wanted Morty and Summer to be an afterthought, it really shows. Why bother at all when they both blurt out “Wow gaming/drugs are fun” or “This reminds me of my game/bong”.

Oh, and they just HAD to throw in one incest joke (two but I’m referring to one that Summer tells Morty). I was hoping I could call this the worst episode that doesn’t involve incest (because wow we have several to choose from), but since it’s not a plot theme, I might give it the title

Morty also seemed so meek and spineless, the way he also just wants to play games. Considering this is season 4, this feels like a trait that shouldn’t have popped up once more. At least with Summer we get hints that she loves smoking (Tricia’s bong ooo her future wife’s bong ooo) but again, it never gets in the way of family or is BECAUSE she hates her family. She doesn’t! That’s one thing the show keeps getting wrong when they write Summer. She loves her family because she’s the one who has to keep it together after nearly losing them from something she thought was HER fault (now that I think about it, that’s probably a trait that parallels Rick). She was just so pissy and quick to give up or give in, too. Where’s that version of Summer who’s tough as hell and wants to make sure everything goes right?

If this were more accurate, she would’ve reprise a role similar to GoTron, wherein she’d help out with building the city. Instead, that role goes to Beth. Morty also didn’t have any real traits. He’s just spouting science jargon sometimes which contradicts how he ends up acting

While writing this I also realized that Jerry consistently thrives in environments removed from usual societal norms or any structure. Curiously, he shares this with his dismantling apocalyptic daughter!

All in all, this episode is heavily weighed down by how they butcher Summer and Morty. It may not be the worst episode of the show, but it’s in my top fives. Quickly, my list for the worst in no particular order so far:

-Childrick of Mort

-Vindicators 3 (fucking awful pacing, basic character dynamics and conflict, some of the worst dialog ever written for Rick)

-Final DeSmithation (you know why.)

-Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri (the second worst cold opening besides Rickdependence Spray, this episode felt pretty pointless and forgettable. This is the one episode whose season I cannot remember every time)

-Rickdependence Spray (you know why.)

#rick and morty #rick and morty episode review #summer smith #summer #morty smith #hyperfixation

[enigma-absolute]

What is Eddsworld about?

3 British idiots (and occasionally an additional Norwegian one) have silly misadventures in a long-running animated webshow. There’s been zombies and clones to fight, movies to make and even a trip down to hell AND Atlantis. It’s a bit of a wacky show.

To make a short story long, Eddsworld was made initially in 2003 by Edd Gould, and featured him and his friends as the main characters. Over the years after Gould passing from leukaemia in 2012, the show, show crew and fandom has seen some rocky times (I could make a tome of lore about all this but NO THANKS), but is still a fond spot in many people’s hearts - including mine. Without coming across it in late February 2013, I genuinely wouldn’t have a foundation for my current art style and the push to pursue my passions in animation.

That and if you come into Eddsworld fandom (not recommended if you go into the main body, just find a few folks and stick with them), be expected to draw a LOT of hoodies and develop an annoying (affectionate) habit of making puns.

So who are the three British idiots anyway? Keep in mind: while they were initially based off IRL Edd and his friends, they’re not the same as them and are seperate things. It’s seen as VERY disrespectful to keep using IRL surnames for the characters, so we often substitute our own made-up or similar-sounding ones.

Edd: Head of the trio, brown hair, green hoodie. Looks like the most normal. Is not, really. The artistic one and pun-maker. Loves cola to a fault, to a point where in canon, his future self went back in time to kill his past self because cola got banned globally. (And it’s the highest ranked Eddsworld episode and the one with the most views.)

Edd is my personal favourite character and I will fight on the hill for him to have a good Edd-centric story that isn’t about shipping him with the other lads or as an angst punching bag. He doesn’t even get enough fanart as the title character of his own show! Let my boy have PEACE AND A FUN TIME FOR ONCE.

Tom: Blue hoodie, spiky hair, weird eyes. The grumpy ‘voice of reason’, but he is also not immune to the Shenanigans. Often the alcoholic, but less so in canon. Has a beloved monster form since it was seen in the eddisode PowerEdd. If you’re asking why his eyes are Like That, we don’t have a concrete answer either. Are they voids? Portals to other things? Just black? Who knows? (The void though is my favourite bc it’s funny.)

Tom is one of the more popular characters of the fandom, and I can see why! However, as an Edd girlie myself, I will admit that it has been a bit TOO much to see over the years. Him and the Norwegian character, but that’s another story.

Matt: Ginger, purple hoodie and green overcoat. Highly narcissistic, with (and I quote the theme song here) ‘the intelligence of a kitchen shelf.’ Can often be found admiring himself in mirrors. Surprisingly has the highest body count of all his friends from over the episodes. Was at one point, a vampire from a Halloween special - that has still carried through into many fanon designs of him. And he was also leader of a zombie army too.

I remember a time when Matt wasn’t so popular as Tom and the Norwegian one, but now he’s just very shipped with the rest of his mates and given plenty of fanart as he likes. And good for him! Now at this point you'd expect me to talk about the Norwegian.

And you know what? No.

I respect him, I can enjoy him as a character and part of the unit with the boys, I can enjoy some takes on the concepts his latter days brought to the table, but overall? I would like to see him Goncharov'd OUT of relevancy.

That character has done too much damage on the fandom, tbh. The days in the fandom where he was basically nonexistent were peaceful. The final episodes of the Eddsworld Legacy season were a flashpoint (derogatory) and while it did unearth old (metaphorical) cursed relics from under the surface, I'm becoming more convinced by the year that he and his last two episodes have done MORE harm than good - stretching even into now!

I'd rather be careful to talk about him. And we don't make any mention of the person he was inspired by, just for the sake of the IRL man to be LEFT ALONE. As should most of the others and their families who played these characters.

Speaking of these kinds of things: A warning.

As for the more recent episodes in the Eddsworld Beyond season: tread with caution. From the first proper episode, people from the crew have been kicked off for genuinely serious reasons that are too dark to explain here and discourse has been rife about the current showrunners.

If you decide to take a look at what had happened - take everything with a grain of salt and come to your own conclusions. The bias can be easy to fall into one group or another so I strongly don't recommend to go looking for it. If you're here for a fun time, do NOT go near the discourse. Especially on tumblr.

So, rant aside, I'll stop myself here. If you want some recommendations on where to begin on Eddisodes:

The Zombeh Attack Trilogy (yes it's spelled like this on purpose): The lads encounter zombies. Not all of them will survive.

Ruined: The lads investigate an egyptian temple.

Spares: The lads get cloned by an evil director. Who is also an idiot.

Hello Hellhole: The boys go to hell. For a vacation.

Moving Targets: The boys join the army.

The Zanta Claws Trilogy: The lads encounter and fight against a Zombie Santa Claus. Shenanigans ensue.

Matt Sucks: Halloween special in which Matt is bitten by a vampire.

Moviemakers: The lads make a movie.

WTFuture: Edd and his friends are chased after his murderous future self. Fan favourite, and if you only watch ONE Eddisode, I HIGHLY recommend this!

Hammer and Fail (Parts One AND Two): The lads try to renovate due to Matt's kleptomaniac tendencies. (Also the introduction to fan-favourite side characters.)

Space Face (Parts One AND Two): The last of Edd Gould's work and animation before his passing and the start of the Legacy season. The lads get abducted by aliens.

Hide and Seek (minisode): Matt tries to play the titular game.

Fun Dead: The lads go to a zombie-infested theme park.

Mirror Mirror (minisode): We meet the genderbend version of the lads and spend the time with the girls, Ell, Tamara and Matilda! (I've also lost count how many times I've cosplayed as Ell. Best girl, you can't change my mind.)

PowerEdd: Edd gets superpowers and has a rivalry with his neighbour.

Saloonatics: The radically different art style and some of the story was quite divisive among fans upon release, but has now become a beloved cult classic. A spiritual sequel to WTFuture, we go back in time and encounter 'ancestor' characters of the lads in the wild west.

Surf and Turf (Part One): (Shh part two is currently in production) The lads go to the beach. What could go wrong?

Should be all I can wholeheartedly recommend to a first-time viewer. If you decide to take the plunge, good luck!

#Enni answers #tzarina-alexandra #chris rambles #good lord have mercy that question took me out to see it from a mutual in the faith

[bonesandthebees]

So Wilbur runs into a wall about the religious/Clara stuff and he’s kinda done with the conversation, and the tattoo thing is still on his mind and Phil is tracing his so the change of topic is right there. And it’s a very fluid shift between the two topics, because it’s still about a connection.

And we get more exposition about the Deathling tattoos. They do provide a closer connection because they reference to the moment(s) that connected the Deathlins with Kristin. Though they also get tattoos for fun. Which is when we get Phil showing of his tattoos and it makes for a very cute scene. Also, the designs are so cool! I had a lot of fun reading the descriptions and picturing them in my head. And of course he has a giant pair of wings on his back.

And then Phil mentions that tattoos mean different things to different people. And I can already tell that Wilbur’s tattoo(s) will mean freedom and reclaiming his body (if they do happen). Though first he’ll have to actually take the step to reclaim his body as his and make peace with it.

And then Phil gets to learn about the whole, Wilbur’s body isn’t his and any expiration of identity via body modification isn’t allowed. Once again he is all of us. But getting angry doesn’t really do much because it’s not Wilbur he’s angry at nor is it his fault but it could scare him and make him shut down.

Phil does point out a good flaw in the explanation. Why would Clara take a human with free will? You could argue she could not get a better or empty vessel, so stomping the free will out of one is the next best thing. But maybe it’s not Clara who has interest in having an empty shell for an oracle.

Also, I love the description if Tommy hunting for weaknesses in the logic because that’s what he’s doing. It’s almost like he’s trying to win a game rather than help Wilbur. Though he is trying to help, and he does want whats best for Wilbur, but he has a very strong (and sometimes wrong) idea of what that might be.

Though I’d argue that Phil isn’t just trying to understand Clara’s reasoning. He’s definitely trying to find the weaknesses to or more, trying to make Wilbur accept them via pointing them out in a calm manner. It’s a dialogue and Wilbur is allowed to state his arguments and Phil will find the flaws or point out the contradictions. Unlike Tommy he isn’t of the opinion that everything is wrong. He's still open to considering every idea and only writes them off based on the flaws he finds.

And Phil has finally found the core issue, which is Wilbur thinking he’s not human. And that he thinks that because that’s what he’s been told. And again Phil does a great job of containing his emotions and not getting swept away in the anger like Tommy does. He asks what Wilbur wants and tells him that what he wants matters. It matters that he didn’t want to be Pythia, but was forced to anyway and it matters if he wants to be a person but thinks he’s not supposed to.

But Wilbur isn’t quite ready for that conversation. So he wants to leave.

(2/2)

-🌲

I wanted the tattoo conversations to be directly tied to wilbur's main conflict over his faith but not in an overt way. they're both about the same thing, but in a way talking about the tattoo is easier for wilbur bc it's a less 'in his face' way to discuss his struggles to keep with his faith and the rules it comes with.

fun fact when I first started writing glass I made a separate google doc with the main cast where I detailed all of their tattoos and cybernetic enhancements. I have references for some of the deathlings tattoos (phil, techno, and tommy) saved that I've sent to fanartists before, but some differ slightly from what's in my head hence why the google doc is my 'masterlist' for that. so yeah lol all of phil's tattoos were very fun to come up with, and I also have techno, tommy, aimsey, tubbo, ranboo, niki, and jack's tattoos all written down.

while whatever wilbur's tattoo could be design-wise, the very act of getting the tattoo will carry the most meaning. if he gets one, it would be a permanent decision to step away from the rules of clara. it would be a reclamation, it would be a push back against his faith, and it would be him deciding his body is his own.

tommy isn't intentionally trying to attack wilbur's relationship with clara or the logic surrounding her rules, but he absolutely does that. he wants to point out the flaws in the hopes that wilbur will have an Oh moment and realize that he doesn't have to follow rules like that. but religious belief isn't that simple. that's where tommy's method falls short, and phil's proves to be better. he's trying to point out the flaws, but he's not expecting wilbur to have one big Oh moment and suddenly push away from clara. he's just trying to get wilbur asking questions and thinking about things in ways he wouldn't let himself before.

gotta love wilbur's strategy for avoiding conversations he's not ready to handle where he's just like "...okay I'm gonna leave now"

#ask #spruce anon #through a glass divine

[buffporcupine]

tell me abt kiyomi fellow Canada loather

why hello there 😋 it’s infodumping o’ clock ig ‼️

tws for death, abuse, descriptions of gore, all that

Kiyomi is an OC I’ve had for at least two years. She’s taken on several different forms and her design has changed a whole lot but she’s one of my favorite OCs!!

Her full name is Kiyomi Itō, and she’s this seventeen year old girl from Kyoto, Japan. Her mother was French-Canadian and her father was Japanese. She can speak Japanese, French, and English, and she learned them in the order they are listed.

Okay, the backstory stuff might be a bit confusing because I’m not good with the wording and this is actually the first time I’ve ever written out everything.

Kiyomi has a younger sister named Shoko who was five years younger than her. Kiyomi also had an older half-brother named Akira who is six years older than her. Kiyomi’s mother was named Sakura, and Kiyomi’s father was named Jin.

When she was a kid, her father was both abusive to her, her younger sister, and her mother. He had had an affair that resulted in the birth of Kiyomi’s half-brother, Akira. Akira’s mother’s identity is unknown. Jin, had a deep-seated hatred for his wife and his daughters, and he tried to teach Akira to hate them as well. This didn’t work though, and after deceiving his father, Akira was able to help his sisters run away. Their mother, though, died at Jin’s hand, and Jin was arrested and incarcerated. After running away, Akira, Kiyomi, and Shoko fled across the world to Canada to go live with their maternal aunt and uncle. By that time, Akira was an adult and he could have been able to keep living at the Ito residence, but taking care of Shoko and Kiyomi would be too difficult without assistance.

The move to Canada was when Kiyomi was fourteen. Now, she has graduated from high school and she’s studying for a degree in psychology. She also spends a lot of time with Akira and his wife, Aurelia.

Kiyomi’s interests include, but are not limited to, psychology, toxicology, entomology, and other things. She really enjoys watching children’s television shows, or reading books about bugs, or watching the night sky. She’s fascinated by activity most consider ‘childish’, and she’s very open and curious about new things. She isn’f very informed though, and she doesn’t get social cues very easy.

She’s fascinated by cute things, and she really likes to look nice. She puts a lot of effort into her appearance, and she prefers scene and grunge dress styles. She’s very naturally attractive as well, but she does wear lots of makeup.

Below are some drawings I’ve made of her. She’s really fun to draw. The first drawing is in my style, the second is in the DRV3 style.

She’s also a bit like a punching bag OC, a bit of a Mary-Sue, but I don’t like to think of her as those.

She’s also schizophrenic, and she’s largely ashamed of that fact. She likes to hide it as much as she can, and she never mentions it to anyone that isn’t EXTREMELY close to her. She’s also got a bit of a fear of abandonment, and she fears that it was her fault what happened to her when she was a child.

She started out as a Danganronpa OC, for a Fangan I had been working on, but now she’s her own sort of character for now. I have the information necessary to insert her into any universe, like Death Note, Stranger Things, etc.. Now she’s just fandomless, and I have enough lore about her to give her her own category.

Below is some useless trivia about her.

She’s allergic to a lot of things, she loves strawberries, she has an obsession with MCR, and she hates it when people try to look smart when they really don’t know what they’re talking about.

She’s actually really short, like five feet and four inches tall. It’s mostly because of stunted growth due to childhood malnutrition.

She’s also a hopeless romantic!! She loves romance novels and movies. She’s very open-minded about who she wants to date, though, and she just hopes it’ll be someone nice and sweet.

There’s the end of the useless trivia.

Now, she spends most of her time studying, helping Shoko study, or spending time taking care of Aurelia. Aurelia is a former secretary turned housewife, well, she was, and then she got diagnosed with this really nasty degenerative neurological condition, and sort of just became a shell of who she used to be.. Yk? So Kiyomi also has to help Akira take care of his kids as a result of Aurelia’s absence.

Kiyomi is honestly living her best life, actually. And at a different, later point in her story, she meets her perfect partner!! I just packed her with trauma so bad I had to make up for it by giving her a happy adult life. Her and Aurelia also have like.. a super cute relationship, so there.

Kiyomi is my CHILD, definitely one of my favorite OCs. I have at least 100 OCs, though, so.. I have a lot of favorites, too.

Maybe I should make more posts about Shoko, Akira, or Aurelia sometime?? I dunno.

Thank you if you read this.

#buffporcupine’s ocs #buffporcupine #buffporcupine talks

[sieglinde-freud]

11, 15, 28 for the Fates ask

omg zorua ty for the ask 💜

11. What do you feel is underappreciated about Fates?

It’s probably a cop out answer to say everything, even though I think it’s true, but the MOST underrated aspect is the characters for sure. I know opinions on Fates are SLOWLY coming around since it’s been such a long time since it came out, but if I have to keep hearing “fates characters are ALL poorly written” I will lose my mind! People will read like ONE support per character, and if that support isn’t absolutely mind blowing it’s suddenly “these characters are one note” like you’re kidding me right? Imagine if you played Three Houses, only saw the Sylvain and Dimitri support, and started thinking Sylvain was poorly written? Come on. Though, I’ll admit the amount of supports in Fates IS a lot. So while I can’t fault anyone for not wanting to read it them, doesn’t mean the characters are bad yknow?

15. What’s an unpopular opinion you have about Fates?

I’ve played the majority of the western releases of Fire Emblem (barring the DS titles and I haven’t had time to finish Radiant Dawn) and I honestly think Conquest is the best Fire Emblem game. I don’t think Fire Emblem has ever had revolutionary story lines, so the fact that Conquest has a middling one never bothered me. But I think the gameplay mechanics are the best in the series, and the map design is fucking awesome. I love the changes to Awakening’s pair up system, I think the new weapon system is SO fun, and the map variety is insane. Chapter 10 is my favorite map in Fire Emblem ever. Playing through Conquest Lunatic rn and it’s kicking my ass but what makes it fun over infuriating is that it’s always my fault, and not something completely out of my control like same turn reinforcements. And also it has Laslow with useable base stats sorry rev

28. Who did you marry the first time? (Multiple answers for each route are fine)

This is so embarassing. In all my first playthroughs of each route I married Silas. High school freshman me was DOWN BAD for this wet paper towel of a man. Friends to lovers has such a hold on me. He was like “I even know your favorite food: tangy coleslaw!” and I folded. I don’t even like coleslaw.

#ty for the ask that was fun #i love talkin about fates it has a special place in my heart #awakening will always be my fav in terms of story but fates is like my scrunkly of video games #asks

[crystalelemental]

“alphakuriboh: To be fair, her design isn’t great and she’s a chairman character after two straight generations of the chairman being the main villain. So. That’s a thing. Plus her ace is mostly prevalent in the late game limited access area, which is a bit of a Hmm. I don’t personally trust her myself lol.”

Isn’t it technically three?  I guess Lysandre wasn’t really a chairman specifically, but major company owner.  It fits.  I do love that they set up the idea that Geeta found her Glimmora down in Area Zero, though.  I want a bit more of that, but I’m not quite sold on it being an antagonist thing, so much as...Geeta’s been down here.  The only even implied connecting point is that the professor mentions securing funding from someone and doesn’t really specify who.

“megazardx2: I think it stems from her 1) having Glimmora as her ace, and 2) not having much of a character, and the one key trait she does have (which is that she’s kind of a slave driver) makes many of her colleagues hate her. Plus, her design feels very…ethereal, in a way?  I’m not 100% on board the “Geeta is gonna be the antagonist for the DLC” train myself, but I wouldn’t be surprised.”

And to be entirely fair, I wouldn’t mind.  It’d be more interesting than how she is, by a mile.  But when I mean she’s vilified, I don’t mean as in, people think she’s secretly an antagonist.  I mean people kinda ascribe negative traits to her that don’t...track with anything?

Like, the slave driver one is a good example.  Head of a company, always going to be a component of that, but the only two that ever indicate there’s anything significant to that are Larry and Penny.  In the case of Larry, we have things like his general put-upon nature and known tendency to work tons of overtime and crunch, but also the order to use a different type while acting as an Elite Four member.  But after his rematch, he does express that there was some validity to the idea of switching up your usual every now and again, and that his boss told him to stop taking so much overtime, and that he’s taking the rest of the day as a result.  That...isn’t strictly the mentality of a task-master, and is honestly a pretty positive quality that implies Geeta’s looking out for her people, and doesn’t want them overworking themselves, or becoming too stuck in routine and depressed.

As for Penny...the only reason Penny’s working for Geeta at all is because Geeta didn’t pursue legal action for hacking their system and stealing funds.  Geeta offers a job instead, looking to cultivate what Penny’s good at for something that isn’t criminal activity.  The only time Geeta’s ever extreme is honestly my favorite scene of hers, where she just kinda brightly pushes “Thanks in advance” on Penny’s attempted refusal.  Which isn’t really a bad thing, in my book.  Like, Penny, sweetie, you do in fact owe her.  When she tells you that it’s time to start on that job she hired you for, the answer is, decisively, “Yes ma’am,” not attempting to complain that you wanted to just watch anime all day.  That’s not even Geeta being a task-master, that’s just having a job.

The only other character I remember expressive dislike of her was Ryme, which was really more about feeling disrespected that Geeta sent you instead of coming herself as initially promised.

And I dunno, I think people latched onto the idea of Larry being depressed as Geeta’s fault because she’s the direct superior?  Despite having proof from Larry himself that she at least tries to make him take time off?  And it feels like it’s extended outward, because I saw a take that Geeta’s just using Nemona for her talents and would toss her away at the first chance, as if Geeta hasn’t been hopeful that you’ll keep up with Nemona solely for Nemona’s sake and is like...actively happy for the kid and helps cultivate a really meaningful memory with the whole “pick a good battle stage” thing?  Geeta...really doesn’t ping as a bad person.  And I feel like some of the takes starting to go around about her just don’t mesh with how she’s been shown to be in really odd ways.

#alphakuriboh #megazardx2

[themattress]

FFVII Remake: The Big Five

Looking over the five leaders behind the making of Final Fantasy VII Remake and its sequels.

Kitase is rather famous for being a part of the game design process in Square but then getting so successful with hits like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VI and of course Final Fantasy VII that he got promoted to the primarily business-related role of Producer. He strikes me as a nice enough guy, but he absolutely must be surrounded by people who his ideas can be bounced off of, because left alone some of ideas can be stupefyingly misguided. In the original Final Fantasy VII, he actually considered killing off every character not in the player’s party when parachuting into Midgar toward the end of Disc 2 and needed to be talked down from it. Similarly, he thought the Remake project could span just two installments with the prologue in Midgar as one, then everything else as the other, only for Nomura to persuade him to take the far more sensible and better paced option of making a trilogy. And when no-one talked him out of utilizing Sephiroth in the way he is utilized in Remake, the results were, of course, highly lackluster. So going forward, it would be good if Kitase stayed a little more hands off creatively and stuck to the business stuff. And speaking of “creative”...

What I said for Kitase goes double for Nomura. If he’s in total control, it’s a disaster because the man’s creative vision has become thoroughly corrupted by the desire to be “surprising” and pretentiously complicated. While he was made Director of Remake against his will, it comes as no surprise that he had it in mind by himself for a while. It looks like after Kitase gave up on whatever he was building toward with “the Compilation” (grown-up Denzel vs. Genesis somehow), Nomura thought up an alternative finale involving the Whispers and Arbiter of Fate alternate timeline bullshit that we ended up with in Remake. While he’s thankfully not going to be primary Director going forward, he’s still the “Creative Director” which means he still has the opportunity to further muck things up with his bullshit. Let’s hope the presence and contributions of the rest of the Big Five tempers it as best as possible.

Kazushige Nojima isn’t the best of JRPG scenario writers (and certainly isn’t a good literary writer), but he’s still a damn good one whose involvement here is appreciated. As I have noted before, he had far deeper, character-rooted aspirations for Advent Children that got drowned out by Nomura’s bombast, and that can be reflected in what he says here: how he say Cloud as he wrote him in Advent Children as “with kindness brimming from within” (which was not made apparent by Nomura’s direction), and how he talks about portraying Cloud here (which thankfully came across far stronger and to great acclaim). Whatever his faults, Nojima at least has a proper respect for the characters and is always trying his very best.

THIS guy. This guy right here is the key member of the Big Five who made Remake the success that it was, because of his boundless love and respect for the original game. Going back to what I said about Kitase; Kitase had apparently wanted even more changes and differences to the original in Remake, but Hamaguchi firmly held his ground against it. He understands that while doing a straight-up remake like fans demanded isn’t in the cards (justifiably so, I say), you also can’t venture so far as to be unrecognizable (like a good chunk of Kitase and Nomura’s “Compilation of Final Fantasy VII” did). This new series needs to feel like a valid retelling of the original story with the original characters in their original world. With him as the main Director for the next two games, I am optimistic that they’ll turn out all right.

Out of all the Big Five, I feel like Toriyama has the most to gain from this series keeping its success going. As a chief game designer, he got off to a promising start with Final Fantasy X and its sequel X-2, only to then have his reputation marred by the increasingly panned Final Fantasy XIII trilogy. Helping Nojima with the scenario of this new trilogy will thus serve as his redemption for that debacle. He’s certainly off to a good start, so I wish him the best of luck.

More with the Big Five can be seen here.

#Final Fantasy #Square Enix #Final Fantasy VII #Remake #Opinion #Analysis