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serxinns · 28 days

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Yandere Older class 1a x Deadpool reader

You were a goofy sarcastic playful hero who always made jokes while brutally punching villains in the face while doing wacky and wild stuff saying the most unhinged stuff with a smile on your face and your Fans and Most pro heroes love that about you

Iida was always with you not because you were dead gorgeous and your fighting skills were amazing but because he's worried about you! You pulling these dangerous stunts makes him have a heart attack whenever he peacefully wants to see the news he sees you teasing and taunting a very dangerous and very deadly villian riling them up to the point where they just slash at anything to get you to stop your yapping, next thing you know he's grabbing his hero suit and running over there right now he always scold you for being u safe while you just either laugh it off do those cringey "I'm sowwy🥺" look iida pretends to be cringe out about but deep down he thinks your pouty face and puppy eyes are cute,

Bonus: both you and Iida's fans agree that Iida was the Dad friend and make those complications video of him being one

Bakugo wants you to depend on him and look up to him he always wants you to be by his side whenever you work with him, but you being a little shit makes his job way harder, you always making fun little jokes and uncanny comedic lines while the two of you are literally in a life and death situation while you're just singing nursery rhymes, He always yells at you to be serious and all you did was say "uh oh cranky pants need a sippy cup?" He chased you around that day and seeing that cute little cheeky face of yours made him blush he always acts like he doesn't wanna work with you but in truth, he stalks your schedule and demands his agency to work close to yours but he won't admit that even the fans kinda see that he cares for you and loved you and himself dynamic

Momo is the worried mother if you ever get hurt by a nasty villain she's beating that villain to a pulp heck even making the dude see the clouds, she always is very protective of you like a mother hen making sure you eat, sleep brush your teeth she always tell you to while you whined like a child, if you didn't bring your lunch don't worry she brought a little bento box for you!, whenever your merch comes out or before she's always the 1st one to get it. She even has a room dedicated to it (just like Izuku but we'll get to him) literally she and Izuku would have a battle about who got the rarest merch and expensive merch

Ochako is like your number 1 biggest fan she always knows your schedule as well so she can either watch you from afar and if you needed any help she'll be there to kick their asses!, she's like Pucca (if you know the childhood show congrats) she always watching you dreamily eyes fluttering but strong and dangerous if anyone messes with you, she's is always in her dream world imagining carrying you like a little princess and she's the knight although she's also ok with you holding her like that as well both ways make her blush and giggles and kicking her feet while floating up, she makes fanfiction of you x reader or her under a fake username ofc so she can write down all her fantasies (some of your classmates would follow that page secretly) she keeps an oversized merch t-shirt that you wrote an autograph

While Izuku may be all Might's number one fan who said he can't be yours as well? Like this dude knows it all has 4-6 pages of you, your quirk, your weapons, your personality, your likes and dislikes, your family, your address-, you name it! He doesn't even need to write down your schedule since he remembers it so easily dude has a great memory there's no denying it, whenever his fans scream all over him wondering what's his favorite hero everyone is so surprised when he mutters out you heck he's shy whenever he talks to you your his idol his darling his sweetie standing in front of him happily making jokes and laughing along or badass shooting and slashing any bad guys, as mentioned in mom's headcanon this boy got a WHOLE ROOM dedicated to you heck one time you jokingly put a dick shape drawing when he asked to Have a autograph he bought a photo case for that and put it on display like he's PROUD

Sero and Denki were your go-to when wanting to cause trouble and Crack some jokes heck all even flirt with each other trying to see who gets the most flustered denki craves whatever attention you give him whether trying to annoy him or not he loves it when you eyes are on him he may act like a carefree person who jokes with you but he's a possessive dude he glares at your fangirls from afar when they're squealing all over you trying to get a autograph calling you hot that made his blood boil that he had to intervene by saying there's a villain waving goodbye at the girls while their squealing got louder seeing Denki but Denki glared at them Sero is the calmer one but is Obsessive he loves everything about you whenever your close to him on the outside he as cool as a cat but inside he's dying screaming on the inside just wanting to hold you close he always ask for any sort of physical interaction like high fives, hugs, he even remembered you patting him on the back praising him for wrapping up the villains luckily someone recorded it and now he saves that in his phone watching it repeatedly over and over again also he keeps those spiderman x Deadpool comics

Jirou and Kiri are like Sero but she acts more like a soft tsundere while Kiri acts like a love-sick puppy following you around and worshipping you head to toe. She acts cool and tough around you but if you compliment her she turns red and hits you to shut up just like Izuku she's too shy to speak to you and always lets you do the talking while she doesn't pay attention just hearing your voice makes her trapped in a dazed smiling dreamily she just couldn't help it You were so adorable even under that mask she wants to cup her hands on your cheeks and give you the biggest kisses leaving you a hot flushed mess kiri on the other hand worships you like a God, he always rants to his friend teru about you and even works together with bakugo at times talking to him about you the two of them will rant on about how cool you are (mostly Him and bakugo just listens) he will invite you to spar with him and if he ever accidentally hurts you he feels so bad and apologies to you even tho you didn't even show any anger or sadness but he thinks you do but all you did was laugh saying how strong he was making the number 4 hero blush and crumble right there he always used to complimenting you on your skills body and even your muscles but you complimenting him!? It's like a kid getting a gold star for their behavior! After sparing he always buys you his favorite drink which you teased him about while he looked annoyed with your teasing he actually likes it and when you promise to stop he mentally whines wanting you to do more!

#yandere bnha #yandere ua #tw yandere #yandere x reader #tw obsessive behavior #yandere class 1a #yandere mha #platonic yandere #bnha fluff #tw stalking #deadpool x reader #Deadpool reader #Deadpool x mha #i got lazy

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just-some-guy-joust · 10 days

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im stubborn and i like talking here's the reasons i put every character i did in side a into the tourney. I'll do side b later cause i gotta go to bed soon

important first note, quite a few of my decisions were because i was trying to get women in here and it was getting desperate because i had to cut out a lot of women for only being "just some guy" because they were written by a misogynist that made her sit on the sidelines and cheer for the male leads. The Woman Situation Is Always So Fucking Dire.

anyways on to the actual contestants im gonna start with the characters that have been causing the most people to start up shit about them not being just some guy

barry bluejeans (taz balance): 2 submissions, personal bias. i think a lot of people are misunderstanding what this tournament is tbh. this isnt about the "normal" characters, tho normalcy does play a factor in it. this is about dudes who are just some guy. there is a difference. barry is a dnd npc who wears blue jeans in a fantasy world and he loves his wife. yes he is a lich. yes he is involved in the main plot. he's also just chillin. like if the plot didn't happen the way it did barry would be playing sudoku or crosswords. he'd be an average man in a very fantasy world. he is so average and human its funny. he is just some guy

tommy (hlvrai): 1 submission, personal bias. his just some guy energy is so there. he gets a propeller hat that does nothing when all of his crew is getting cool guns and upgrades. his life goal is to go home and take his dog for a walk. he gets a chuck e cheese birthday party. he sounds like he's going to burst into tears at any moment. compared to the rest of the crew, tommy is comedically just some guy

ulala (persona 2): 1 submission, description swayed me. it described the list of characters in persona 2 and ulala was just "your roommate that wanted to go to a party". that's hilarious. also i was getting fucking desperate for women that didn't suck ass as i stated above

apollo (ace attorney): 2 submissions, personal bias, descriptions swayed me. yall the submissions for him were so fucking funny. he's just a lawyer. he just wants to do his job but he lives in the ace attorney universe so everything is fucked all the time. he would've been a normal lawyer if he hadn't met phoenix wright. he's just chillin.

ok now here's every other character

sasha james (tma): 1 submission, friend bias, good description. i asked r if i should put her in because they know tma and they said yes. submission described her as loving to organize and avoided many monsters by being just some guy.

reigen arataka (mp100): 2 submissions. i thought it'd be funny and i was right. he is also just a normal man pretending he's not and he refuses to give up the bit he 100% deserves to be here

joy (underworld office): 1 submission, friend bias. the mc is going through wild ghost related problems and she's just going . hey man. you good??? r's sister submitted her and im not letting her down dude she's awesome

junpei (zero escape): 3 submissions, personal bias. he is literally the only character who has no connection to the larger mystery he's just there because he loves 1 girl. he's PAINFULLY and VITALLY just a dude. i need him

horse (centaurworld): 1 submission. i thought it'd be really funny to include just a horse. her name is horse. thats fucking awesome dude

phone guy (fnaf): 2 submissions. he was the only character from fnaf that got more than 1 submission and there were like 9 fnaf submissions i kinda felt bad tbh. he was also the best example of just some guy out of all the fnaf submissions

gordon freeman (hlvrai): 1 submission. he is a guy playing a video game. he is the straight man to the rest of the crews antics and by god he plays his role well

joshua gillespie (tma): 4 submissions, friend bias, hilarious descriptions. he avoids getting killed because he's so good at following instructions despite him clearly supposed to be dying here. they said don't open the coffin so he didn't. simply don't tuesday

namari (dungeon meshi): 1 submission, personal bias. i like her c: she's pretty level headed compared to like. everyone else in laios's crew. she seems like somebody i could just be friends with and hang out with

shez (fire emblem): 3 submissions, hilarious descriptions. i might try getting into fire emblem because of this. ok so they got murdered in a previous game off screen and now they're the playable character of a new game in a new timeline and they're fucking everything up because they're just supposed to be some guy? thats so fucking funny holy shit i want to know more

henry stickmin (henry stickmin): 1 submission. henry stickmin. like idk i dont feel like i gotta explain this one he's a stickman

stanley (tsp): guaranteed entry

whole (chonny jash): 1 submission, friend bias. tbh i saw him and went oh fuck yeah thats the thing my friends like and then i put him in there. i dont actually know enough about chonny jash to say anything on this but i fully trust the submitter knew what they were doing

larry (pokemon): guaranteed entry

luke carder (inscryption): 1 submission, friend bias, good description. he is just a normal youtuber in the lore of the game. he fucking love card game. good for him man good for him

leorio (hxh): 3 submissions, friend bias, good descriptions. idk a lot about hxh but the descriptions of him compared to the other main characters was pretty convincing

barry the quokka (sonic): guaranteed entry

april o'neil (tmnt): 1 submission, friend bias. absolutely normal girl that just happens to be the one that found the turtles and become their friend

tsuzuru (a3!): 3 submissions, friend bias. descriptions definitely made him feel like a good fit. he's so good at being just some guy i actually thought he was a different character and was shocked when i went to grab images for the tourney and he wasnt the guy i thought he was. which is really funny. like who the fuck is he then. this didn't change my opinion or anything it was just so good

matt (woe.begone): 1 submission. woe.begone fans have ALWAYS been kind to me so they got some mod bias sprinkled in. i dont know what this guys deal is but in the dbtn tourney the guy who got in there had a giant fucking list of things that are happening to him all the time and apparently thats just what woe.begone is like so i believe it when told matt is normal in comparison. everything else is so batshit wild I Just Believe You

gilear (fantasy high): 2 submissions. he seems to be just a dad. wasn't going to get in at first tbh just for personal reasons but i was running out of characters that i felt actually fit the tournament well so ultimately he got in

emmet (lego movie): 4 submissions. honestly with the number of submissions we got, 4 submissions was basically a guaranteed entry. and emmet's whole story is about being just some guy

stahl (fire emblem): 1 submission, hilarious description. fire emblem fans are so funny. what do you mean he can only be perfectly average because everyone else improves/gets worse with him to keep him perfectly average. what the fuck. thats so good

doug (wolf359): 2 entries. i dont know jack shit about wolf359 and honestly the submissions didn't tell me a lot but it was enough to figure he qualifies and i was running out of characters that felt good for the tourney. i trust you wolf359 fans

jack townsend (tales from the gas station): 1 submission, good description. he works at an evil gas station and the description gave me no follow up on what an evil gas station is which is awesome. apparently the horrors are constantly happening and he's just kinda staring at them. he's not paid enough for this

frisk (undertale): guaranteed entry

brian pasternack (yuppie psycho): 1 submission. im gonna be super honest with you here. i dont remember. i know he qualifies but i have 0 thoughts about him. maybe thats a good thing in this tourney. he's an average office worker who has now been tasked with killing The Witch.

trevor (american arcadia): 4 submissions, personal bias, good descriptions. dude i fucking love american arcadia it's so fucking good what a nightmare. he's so normal they were going to kill him for not being entertaining enough

#-mx narrative #some guy joust

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rayshippouuchiha · 1 year

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*deep breath* ok ok so

This mahwa is action-fantasy so I'm expecting the stereotypical uber-OP or hardworking underdog kind of main characters, but then we meet our MC and the thing he does is:

And immeditely I'm intrigued, because quite honestly he seemed pathetic. I wondered how they were gonna turn him around.

For some background info: our MC, Gong-ya, is an average person living in a world where a mysterious tower filled with monsters sprung up out of nowhere. People inside the tower are in general from the lower classes, looking for treasure and opportunities by challenging the many levels of the tower. Our MC is jealous of the current #1 player, who is wealthy and irreverent, and wants to be like him so much that the system rewards him for (lol)

with the skill to randomly receive a skill from his murderer.

Soon after that, while he's drowning his sorrows in alcohol from receiving this seemingly useless skill, the MC overhears the #1 murdering another player, and is subsequently killed himself just for being nearby. Fortunately for him, he receives the #1's skill to revive 24hrs prior to dying (though it comes with a cost). Realizing how twisted he is, how many people have probably died in much the same way, and that the #1 is unkillable with such a skill, the MC exploits his newly acquired skill to go back 11 years into the past (via ~4050 suicides) and murder the #1 before he gained any of his skills.

I think what I love about our MC most is how utterly human he is. He is petty, and sassy, and a little bit pathetic, and he wants recognition and power and money, but he is also the goddamned KINDEST human being you'll ever see. Instead of swearing vengeance and powering up gradually to "destroy" the #1, he decides to turn back the clock to before the #1 received his revival skill, in order to both avenge himself and prevent the murders of the thousands that had previously been killed by him. He learns that the power he had so coveted often comes from psychopathic behavior, and becomes determined to never be like that himself.

And he's so empathetic to others, often in little ways that go unseen and unrewarded, yet he soldiers on, dying again and again and again, reliving the trauma of his killers every time and somehow becoming MORE empathetic every time.

He is not overpowered, and he has to earn every victory inch by bloody inch through pain and effort and death, while simultaneously living through so much trauma that he struggles to maintain his ego intact. He doesn't just depend solely on his skills, he's also incredibly freaking clever, finding the best way to use his strengths and those of people around him every time. With every revival he gains just a smidgen more information, just a bit more of the battle moves and strategies of his opponents, sometimes gaining just a few seconds of progress. And wonderfully, instead of growing colder and more jaded he BECOMES KINDER STILL, determined to avoid the most bad endings for the greatest amount of people he can,and I just ahfjhsjgdhsgdshgsh I love him SO MUCH

I also love how, very frequently, we start out in a setting that seems comedic, ridiculous or stupid, but we're later given an explanation that sheds devastating light on the situation.

For example, at some point the MC arrives in a doomed, dying "martial arts" world plagued by a zombie apocalypse, where the only two surviving people are members of opposing factions that refuse to stop fighting even though their world is completely collapsed around them.

Seems stupid right?

Turns out that both of those people were already bitten, and were holding off the infection through their ki temporarily. And as martial artists, they were terrified of dying a meaningless death, rotting away on the floor, unmoving, alone, and forgotten.

So they fought.

And fought.

Even though they had been using almost all of their strength holding back the infection

Even though all they could manage to do was bite and pull hair and slap

They fought, and hoped the other could manage to strike a killing blow, and they could go out in a "blaze of glory", fighting their life-long rival

And yet they never could bring themselves to go all out, because they knew - if one of them was the victor, the other was doomed to die rotting alone.

So our wonderful, amazing MC finds this out and not only becomes the disciple of one of the survivors so they can live on in their teachings (despite having to die hundreds of times over in order to master the pain-based martial arts of his new teacher), but also collects the findings of his alchemist every time until they manage to create a cure within the time limit, AND brings back more disciples, AND gets his master a duel of sorts with the only martial artist on her level before she passes in his arms.

And it's beautiful, and heartbreaking, and I loved it I LOVED IT SO SO MUCH YOU DONT UNDERSTAND

The manhwa is called "SSS class suicide hunter" and EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ IT I SWEAR YOU GUYS ITS SO GOOD YOU WONT REGRET IT

Holy shit this looks magnificent

#sss class revival hunter #SSS class suicide hunter #RayRambles

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00belle00lovely00 · 2 months

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*+_THEATER AND OG DAYCARE AU!_+* (PART 1)

(OK. THINGS FIRST, DO FORGIVE ME IF YOU SEE SUDEN STRANGE CHANGES IN THE ART STYLE, I swear to my mama I made all of these, just that I've been drawing this concept idea for the past 2 years and I somehow completely changed from my own art style for these sillies towards the cardboard cutouts that the game has us to offer. So if there's any confusion, the first image up there is the latest from a few weeks.)

So I had this concept AU idea where I wanted to explain WHY the Sun and Moon can be completely separate while Eclipse is just cast away from the whole 'brotherhood' the fandom has created. And BECAUSE I haven't seen anyone do this back when I had this idea, I decided to make it my own!

AU LORE:

Eclipse in this AU appeared way back when the pizzaplex was being built. Small variations of iconic attractions such as a smaller version of the atrium, a half-cut area of Rockstar Row and Bonnie Bowl which was, at the time, the biggest attraction at the in-construction were all located within the upcoming glamrocks with their beta versions. Back at that time, Eclipse was somewhat of a prototype for the present-day daycare attendant we all know and love. They began to work around a smaller version of the daycare, being introduced to the children with both daytime and naptime protocols to ensure their safety and fun in Superstar Daycare.

Eventually, though, the pizzaplex began to grow bigger and bigger, to the point where more clients of all ages started to watch the early performances of the beta Glamrocks. Due to funds increasing and higher-ups becoming much more daring, a new attraction was set up near the daycare, this being known as the present-day Theater where Sundrop and Moondrop were introduced as its performers. Working as entertainers and jesters for comedic acts, especially for the adults who dropped off their kids and went off for a bag of popcorn and a soda to watch the sillies on their performances.

Sun and Moon as Jesters:

Sun back at the time was his usual joyful and happy self, yet one full of ego and quite self-centered if you must say. As Sun was given the role of the main character in the majority of his performances, he kept the idea that everything must be according to what was planned. Perfect, clean and nicely done, he thinks that the smallest mistake could ruin his "character arc" and much rather be scrapped on set in front of all his fans than admit that sometimes you just have to get off your fantasies and set yourself in real life.

Moon on the other hand, oh boy, that guy wasn't any less good. As the antagonist of the majority of the performances, he grew a 'villainous wanna-be' personality. Where he tries to prank you, trick you, and make pathetic yet silly obstacles before laughing away in an 'evil' laugh. I mean... what would you honestly expect? This is Moon who we are talking about you guys, there's no way this guy can be a calming presence to be around, not even before the virus situation.

FAMILY BONDING:

At first, Eclipse seemed a bit shocked and wary about how there were suddenly two completely identical modelled animatronics that resembled a lot of him living just near his daycare. At some point, they didn't want to be involved in whatever these two jesters were.

But as time went by, admittedly Eclipse grew attached to the twins. Having an older sibling bonded with them as they were the ones making sure those two imbeciles wouldn't go at each other's necks for dumb reasons like a scrip, a mistake in their performance on stage or even just a simple argument. Which they had. Multiple times.

Things were always a ruckus with the jesters. They hung out on their after-hours, helped each other with their usual routines for the day, and even there were rare occasions when Sun and Moon were invited into the daycare. That, of course, was where Sun learned how to adore arts and crafts. Seeing the beauty of art from his own viewpoint. As for the Moon jester? Well, he learned about disciplinarity, the need for perpetual rest and most wholesomely, he grew to like naptime due to Eclipse's soft lullaby that they would spread to every kid alike. Although too proud to admit, he is slightly jealous of Eclipse's calming nature. In a good way.

ANYWAY, ILL UPDATE ALL WITH THE 2ND PART SOON BYE-

#fnaf moon #fnaf art #fnaf sb #fnaf au #fnaf fanart #fnaf security breach #fnaf #fnaf sun #fnaf superstar daycare #sundrop #moondrop #moon #eclipse #fnaf ruin #ruin eclipse #brotherly bonding #art #I LOVE THEM SO MUCHHHH AAAA

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the-owl-house-takes · 3 months

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If the demons in TOH were replaced by a human ethnicity, their treatment by the show would be considered incredibly racist.

They're not human, of course. They're not real. But they can still reflect the creator's biases, especially since, on paper, they're as much "people" as witches, and aren't supposed to just be enemies or monsters (not that that isn't also often used to slide racism into fantasy stories, by depicting the "others" as a compact, unthinking evil).

Yet, even though demons fill crowd scenes and even give the world its name (DEMON realm not Witch realm), they're never important to the plot. The one demon in the main cast is framed as annoying comic relief, and at the end revealed to be some sort of... Parasite? Such a great and not at all dehumanizing detail to ascribe to a character! The other "important" demon character (Vee) can conveniently shift into human form at will, so she can "pass" as humanoid without issue. King, whose identity is important to the plot, is explicitly revealed to NOT be a demon.

Any other demon who speaks more than one line is just a secondary comedic villain or sidekick (NOT a main villain ofc, because that's an important role that should go to a humanoid).

TOH is considered by fans super diverse™ and inclusive™, but as many have noticed almost the whole crew is white. The way they treat the POC characters feels like an afterthought, with them being overshadowed by white characters all the time, and never getting a chance to show their culture (especially the supposedly Black-Dominican Luz and Camila).

It's like the (white) crew decided, "Let's make this show and let's 'add diversity' to it!", without them actually putting in the effort to have diversity behind the scenes. Just a POC coat of paint, so they can pat themselves in the back for how diverse and progressive they (supposedly) are.

And here we go back to the start. They might have added a few POC characters, but their white bias still shows through the cracks. They just created a new "acceptable" cathegory of fake people that it's ok to dehumanize, as a way to put POCs in the "in group" (but not "too much" as to overshadow the white characters obviously). But it still borrows the same racist tropes that were used to otherize and dehumanize people in media for decades. They don't just disappear because you wrote "demon" over the labels.

In any case, it's telling how the "daring" and "diverse" show that screams from the rooftops that "weirdos have to stick together" will actively push aside any character that doesn't conform to the (humanoid) norm outside of the most inoffensive and watered down features.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: I know some people will think this ask is racist because it's comparing POC to demons (I'm a POC myself btw). But. "Demon" is just the word the show uses to otherize the group of people that doesn't fall in line with the accepted "norm" of human likeness.

It has nothing to do with intellect or morality, demons in this context could be called angels or smurfs or elves or whatevs, let's remember they're supposedly "equal" to the witches. It doesn't change the fact that they're just used as a way to add a weird 'n' spooky vibe to the setting but are never, EVER meant to be actual characters, outside of the one that can hide her nature at will.

#long post #the owl house #toh #toh critical #racism mention

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blue-b-bro · 6 months

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The use of genre as unreliable narrator in ofmd

„But it’s a comedy!”

(I had to, sorry)

Ok, people usually take this argument out when talking about there being jokes, or getting a happy ending. It’s not dark fantasy like Game of Thrones, it’s not a mature drama, like Better Call Saul.

But in most stories the darker genre is justified by the fact that that’s realistic, that’s how the real world works. Going with that explanation, writing a fantasy like this is like an oxymoron (I’m not saying it’s a bad choice, just pointing out). Recently tho, it became popular to think that a story is meaningful or mature only if it’s realistic, the dark-way-realistic, if you get what I mean. If the story is too optimistic, the ending too happy, it’s apparently not realistic enough and so - silly. If the story wants to talk about something deep but there’s not enough misery, someone will inevitably come and point out how in real life it wouldn’t be like this and so the message is meaningless.

Going back on track: in most stories the genre is like the laws of physics of the story. Once set they’re absolute. You can subvert the tropes, cliches, expectations, but the genre stays intact. If in a story taking place in a genre expected to be more serious, more grand the author puts too many jokes, it’s bad writing. It’s against the laws of this world and shouldn’t be there.

And usually it’s ok, we have a lot of genre, we can take new approach to them, make them fresh, mix them. But I haven’t found that many stories that use A genre (not “Their genre”) so much as a tool, so explicitly as a tool to show characters perspective and worldview.

Let’s just quote what I’ve already said, because it was rather well put imo:

“Season 1 is more comedy like, because it’s from Stede’s point of view, mostly. Sometimes the lighthearted music actually doesn’t fit the scene, unless we take into account that it’s about how Stede sees this. Stede’s flashbacks aren’t funny, his marriage isn’t funny. Stede cares about Ed and so his flashbacks are treated seriously too, even more so (cause you know, Stede doesn’t care about himself much). But Izzy is treated as a joke. Stede doesn’t like him and isn’t afraid of him (because he doesn’t know he lives only because Ed forbade Izzy from killing Stede) and so scenes that are sad and depressing from Izzy’s perspective don’t get an appropriate music (like in e6 for example). The world is shown through Stede’s eyes. Ed is cool and scary and treated very seriously, Stede tries to hide his very real pain under his adventures and Izzy… He doesn’t care about Izzy. The scenes where Stede is scared make him look pathetic but when it’s Ed, it’s completely serious, because Stede treats Ed’s fear seriously, but finds his own shameful and, well, pathetic. The comedic tone is the unreliable narrator here.

Episode 8 isn’t so much comedic anymore. Stede feels out of place, pushed aside, and the whole episode feels like that. Episode 9 isn’t a comedy either, it’s seeped in self doubt and lingering regrets. Episode 10 has comedic vibe mostly during Stede’s adventurous escape and kinda during Ed’s pink robe phase. Kinda, because alone with Lucius, there’s no jokes, with Izzy too. The comedy stays on deck, with the crew, Stede’s crew that as a whole goes under the adventurous light vibe. But at the end of season 1 the vibe of the show completely changes. There’s no jokey comedy anymore. Yeah, Stede’s still a bit silly now and then, because that’s how he feels about himself. But at Ed’s Revenge there’s only 100% drama.”

Another thing is, with every episode, we get more and more alone time with Ed, he becomes a protagonist of his own. His alone scenes aren’t funny. Usually those are somber or depressing. In e10 their two perspectives part the moment Stede runs away. Since then there’s Stede’s world and Ed’s world. It’s Ed’s sky that’s pink. It’s Stede’s world where the assassination attempt is funny. Ed tries to maintain Stede’s reality on the Revenge, but it turns out bleak in comparation. There’s no comforting blanket of escapism and naivety. No one to nourish the optimism and the atmosphere of safety without Stede being here. It’s becoming more and more Ed’s world again. Depressing, dangerous, more realistic. Because Ed lost his faith in Stede’s world, it the value of love and comfort.

The divide is even more visible in episodes 1-3 of s2. Just what people were laughing about: Stede’s crew gets soup and Ed’s fights for their life. Stede most of the time bottles up his negative emotions, keeping his “realm” light and adventurous. Very rarely he let’s himself to actually feel his real emotions (in the rain, during the night talk with Lucius, maybe with Zheng, tho I’m not sure if it’s not more thinking than feeling at that moment really). Stede’s keeping his darkness hidden, focused on hope. When they meet Lucius and then Ed’s crew, the little cracks starts showing up. We start to see less of a humor and more of sincerity. Season 2 is less comedic and more sincere in it’s form. Because that’s how Stede feels, after realizing his feelings for Ed, after realizing what’s important to him, after getting him back. (He couldn’t accept Ed’s dead, so he wasn’t << “I’m not ready to believe that”) His world is more real. It’s not ignorance, naivety or detachment anymore, rather hope, optimism and having an actual goal. In season 1 Stede just wanted to run away from his life, now he had a specific goal to fix what he destroyed (no matter how much of it was really his fault).

Going back to Ed’s perspective in e1-3, we are told about his emotional state, for example, by weather. It’s also interesting how at the beginning of e2 Ed’s crying session is treated seriously, showing him feeling empty, abandoned, longing all at once. But the next day, when he recalls the incident, it’s framed like a joke. You know, how when you get an emotional breakdown and then later think “damn, that was embarrassing and unnecessary”? It was something like that. When he torments Izzy, it’s dark af, because he sees himself as a monster. The tone of a scene doesn’t say how actually important/serious/deep/meaningful the scene really is, but how the character sees it. Just as Stede saw his fear as pathetic in s1, Ed treats like that his sincerity. His abandonment is only deserved and him crying about it is pathetic, his self hate and violence in the afterlife just a dry fact, his fisherman era suddenly taking a jump into comedy the moment he feels he failed.

We can see Ed’s and Stede’s realities getting more similar, because their view on reality is getting more towards the middle. Ed gets more forgiveness and softness and it isn’t depicted as ridiculous. Stede's adventures get more bloody (the cursed ship), threats more real (Ned Low’s tortures). Buttons change was so out of the blue and unrealistic, because that’s how Ed saw the concept of change. He was so sure it’s not real and that’s why it was like a magic. That’s why he was alone, while witnessing it. Izzy was able to survive all that happened to him, because Ed believed he's indestructible and will always have his back, even if he doesn't deserve it. (if I'm right, then it's the presence of Stede that killed Izzy)

The weather, the colors show Ed’s emotions:

While Ed’s emotions were muddled and confusing in e5, we got the fog, when he was happy in the beginning, but then started to feel more and more unsure in e7 – the colors changed from yellow to gray, when he was happy about how Calypso’s birthday turned out, but then Ned Low appeared - the colors changed from romantic pink and purple, to disturbing green and blue suddenly, as if his past, his sins poured a bucket of cold water on his head. When he thinks he will finally die, finally made that decision, he’s relieved, and sunny weather mirrors that, but in his last moment, when he has to face it, they’re in the middle of a storm. His gravy backet is cold, cloudy and so windy it’s hard to hear anything. Hell, the first time we see Queen Anne it’s in its own dark weather!

Stede, becoming “real boy” and then “a man” makes the world around him more realistic as well. After Ned tortured his crew and Ed, Stede kills the guy. After becoming suddenly famous, the world takes a step back and everything is light and funny around him again, no real danger, Stede kills the guy without even trying and it’s funny and cool, because He feels cool about all of it. But when Ed says that last night was a mistake and then leaves, there’s no more cool Stede. Suddenly his happy adventure is falling apart, his crew doesn’t want to follow him just because (because why were they always together since the end of s1?), his behavior isn’t cool anymore, but pathetic, Steak knife probably died, his tricks don’t work, because he doesn’t believe they would, not really. He doesn’t feel like it’s some cool pirate duel from pirate tales, like in e6. He feels like a failure. Everyone left him, whatever he does, apparently it’s not enough for people to stay, and when he hit the rock bottom, the Republic of Pirates gets destroyed.

The way the world works is related to what Stede and Ed believe in atm. But if they're together on screen, it's Stede's beliefs that shape reality.

So I don’t think they changed the rules of the world in e8. The rules were changing all the time, and the world became deadly during ep 6-7, somewhere there. The tone of the episode didn’t warn us, because Ed was happy most of the time, and so the color palette of the episode is light. The left-side rule didn’t work, because Stede wasn’t as naïve as in s1 (he wasn’t sure Ed was right, but decided to believe him). Stede’s crazy plan didn’t work as in e1&2s1, because he was more aware of the risk. Stede knew they could die, knew it’s dangerous, and so it was. Ironic really.

#My great comeback I guess #Ofmd #Ofmd s2 #ofmd meta #our flag means death #stede bonnet #edward teach #E8 #Like it's not really about that but just to clarify: I think they could make some things differently in the finale #But the things that were good were great #So it's 50/50 #But it's not a post about the finale really #I'm just replying to the accusations about the show suddenly forgetting its own rules #And I disagree with people who view this show as a sitcom #And I've read some posts about the use of the genre and no one saw it like I did (or I haven't found one that does)#Everyone are only talking about the muppet genre and the Izzy genre

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best-underrated-anime · 4 months

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Best Underrated Anime Group E Round 2: #E1 vs #E2

#E1: Dead people are revived with souls from the future. Hilarity and angst ensue.

#E2: Psychic girl is adopted by Yakuza. Hijinks ensue.

Details and poll under the cut!

#E1: Are You Ok (You Yao)

Summary:

People from the modern world transmigrating (Chinese version of isekai) into the ancient Chinese fantasy world has become a common and everyday occurrence that the royal court in the latter has decided to moderate them. If you’re a transmigrator, you must report your existence to Lou Zhu, the master of Best Tower. Once you pass his test and prove that you are indeed a modern person, you can then be assigned to work in different areas of the government and be given a high salary.

Because of this promised benefit, many impostors have showed up before Lou Zhu. And one day, Zuo Yunqi shows up for this test. Is he an impostor, or is he an actual modern person?

But some transmigrators also choose to hide their existence out of distrust in the government. Where are they? And with their advanced knowledge on science and technology, what are they planning in the dark?

Propaganda:

The setting is a genius mix of ancient and modern. Lou Zhu’s tower looks like an ancient Chinese building on the outside, but on the inside it’s like a hotel, complete with different entertainment venues and even a milk tea shop! And of course, what’s a hotel without an elevator? But since electricity isn’t invented yet, it’s just powered by different men (in fancy uniforms) on bicycles.

You’d expect that the locals would have some amount of horror, sadness, and grief over dead people coming back to life and moving and talking as if nothing has happened. Except there isn’t; at least, not much. They’ve gotten used to it. Life still has to go on, so why not enjoy it?

On one hand, You Yao shows us the transmigrators’ lives and how they cope in this unfamiliar world. Often in isekai/transmigration stories, the locals are portrayed as “backward” and “ignorant” to highlight the modern character’s supposed intelligence. But in You Yao, the two parties have an equal relationship. Transmigrators still have to follow the laws set by the Emperor, and their modern knowledge doesn't always prove to be useful. Unless they can invent novel things despite limited materials, their knowledge often fails to set them apart. I mean, what are you gonna do when you’re an art student whose only talent is drawing p*rn but people expect you to cook??? Or how about when you’re literate in Simplified Chinese but can’t read the locals’ Traditional Chinese text? Or what about when your soul ends up in the body of a mosquito instead???

Even with a high salary from the Emperor, being a transmigrator is not that easy. And as the show unfolds, we find that there’s more to them than comedic figures.

On the other hand, You Yao is also about the locals and how they have to adapt to their fast-changing world. My favorite among them is Lin Kai. He has fully embraced the changes that he’s become akin to a transmigrator in his knowledge of the modern world. He’s not prominent in the novel, but the donghua treated him with a full musical sequence when he was about to confess to his crush 😂. As the only straight character, they probably had to highlight his love story to let the BL go under the radar—Oh, have I mentioned this show is a BL with several pairs?

Chinese censorship won’t allow the gay to be explicit, but they managed to still make it very fruity. The s1 ending song is literally about the second pair, Li Ke and Zhou Rongqi (aka Prince Yu).

Then there’s the animation style, which is a hybrid of 2D and 3D CGI. People not used to 3D anime may wince at this, but it’s actually common in China. You Yao’s style works quite well for it, too, giving it a distinctive flair.

To sum it up, You Yao is a compelling show that deconstructs the isekai/transmigration genre. If you’re after comedy with depth and an overarching plot, this is the show for you. There’s also some gay romantic angst sprinkled throughout, giving you lots of materials for fanfiction 😎

Trigger warnings: Guns, kidnapping, and imprisonment. Nothing too dark, though.

#E2: Hinamatsuri

youtube

Summary:

While reveling in the successful clinching of a prized vase for his collection, Yoshifumi Nitta, a yakuza member, is rudely interrupted when a large, peculiar capsule suddenly materializes and falls on his head. He opens the capsule to reveal a young, blue-haired girl, who doesn't divulge anything about herself but her name—Hina—and the fact that she possesses immense powers. As if things couldn't get any worse, she loses control and unleashes an explosion if her powers remain unused. Faced with no other choice, Nitta finds himself becoming her caregiver.

Propaganda 1:

Hinamatsuri is about…

Hina, who is a psychic metaphor for autism ala Mob but imo better. She’s not only a weirdgirl who’s friends are almost all other strange girls, but she’s also into stuff that is just so either unfitting for her age or she’s just really intense about.

Nitta, who deserves all the fangirls and husbando-ing that every other random guy in anime gets. He’s a bachelor who loves pottery and can cook so well that Hina convinces her friends they have a gourmet chef working for them. He’s also a yakuza and is beloved by the aniki for being incredibly tough and scary. (He is gentle as hell with Hina.)

A bunch of other weird girls (Admin: this part of the propaganda has been cut due to possible spoilers)

Propaganda 2:

Hinamatsuri is an absolutely hilarious anime with some of the best comic timing I’ve ever seen. It’s so funny, the various girls are such nonsense.

Hina starts as a violent blank slate and develops into a lazy greedy horrible little gremlin. Anzu starts as a prideful edgy rival but eventually becomes a wholesome overly grateful insecure mess. Hitomi is forced to become more and more competent, independent, and adult because she can't stand up for herself and say no to people asking her for favors.

Nitta is a fantastic viewpoint character because he outwardly takes so much in stride that it’s easy to forget how annoyed and stressed everything makes him until he snaps.

Trigger Warnings: There is child nudity, but only for a Terminator reference. There is some comedic child neglect and slapstick. There is a child who is homeless, but it’s treated very sensitively.

When reblogging and adding your own propaganda, please tag me @best-underrated-anime so that I’ll be sure to see it.

If you want to criticize one of the shows above to give the one you’re rooting for an advantage, then do so constructively. I do not tolerate groundless hate or slander on this blog. If I catch you doing such a thing in the notes, be it in the tags or reblogs, I will block you.

Know one of the shows above and not satisfied with how they’re presented in this tournament? Just fill up this form, where you can submit revisions for taglines, propaganda, trigger warnings, and/or video.

#anime #donghua #best underrated anime #polls #poll tournament #tournament #anime tournament #animation #group stage #group stage round 2 #tournament polls #group e #are you ok #are you okay #you yao #有药 #hinamatsuri

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donnerpartyofone · 2 months

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Everything I Watched While I Was Recovering From the Plague

I have a fantasy that watching a bunch of movies of wildly varying quality and content in close proximity can really bend your wires out of shape, like being exposed to too much radiation. I like to tell people that I had to get all those eye surgeries because of all the deranged stuff I subject my eyeballs to. My criteria for this marathon were "movies I want to watch but it's never 'the right time'" and "movies my sick husband in the next room is not interested in".

THE IRON CLAW: Pretty much the big, dumb, lummoxy movie that you might expect. The script is surprisingly weak--the girlfriend declares that everything is a matter of fate minutes before saying "I believe we make our own luck"??--but the family curse part is sort of compelling in spite of it all. I admit I was partially in it for the freak show of muscle mania; for various cultural reasons the way bodies were presented (and the kinds of bodies people aspired to have) in the '80s was so different than it is now, the exhibition of flesh had a very different kind of character that's hard to describe but this movie with its bulbous wrestler bodies filling the screen gave me flashbacks. Zac Efron should keep his He-Man haircut.

DARK HARVEST: I've been struggling to describe this certain type of movie that's very form over function, with a pretty specific form: there's like a really forced "stylized" nostalgia thing with a lot of humorless "weirdness" attached in movies like FINAL GIRL and KNIVES AND SKIN, and to some degree THE REFLECTING SKIN although that's a more sophisticated example (that I still don't enjoy). Anyway DARK HARVEST adds a Pumpkinhead guy (not pictured below) to the mix, and he looks pretty good at least.

THANKSGIVING: Well it's the best movie Eli Roth has made in a long time! It's OK. I like that the inciting incident is a Black Friday stampede, but it's too bad he didn't have the means to make it look more convincing; it feels like about a 150 people running around yelling and there's conspicuous amount of breathing room for the victims getting "crushed".

ZONE OF INTEREST: A tour of the ogre's castle, creepy and effective. Łukasz Żal's spy cam setup cleverly establishes a sense of being trapped in forbidden chambers.

GODLAND: Danish priest makes the perilous journey to Iceland, is a complete asshole to everyone he meets. Interesting, but more beautiful than interesting.

LINGERING: Goofy K horror in which a handful of different neurotic women are relentlessly mean to a small child. I often wonder about this trope of like, someone who is categorically unsuited to parenthood gets saddled with an orphan, and they REALLY don't want to adopt the orphan, but eventually they turn against their own personality and rational estimation of means because the orphan is so cute and/or sad. The implication seems to be that every one of us can and should be parents, and maybe this is even related to the (usually comedic) trope of the solitary curmudgeon who just wants to be left alone, until they undergo some kind of forced exposure therapy at the hands of their nosy neighbors who insist that no human being could actually enjoy their own company. This is an ongoing concern for me.

UNREST: Anarchist watch factory workers in love. Second movie in the list that uses early photography as a motif (also GODLAND). Pretty interesting formally, and I like all the stuff about the development and spread of standardized hourly time.

WITCHHAMMER: 1970 Czech allegory for Communist "show trials". Man, whether you're making an exploitation movie or a political statement, witch hunt movies are always tough stuff, huh?

HONEYCOMB: A woman unravels mentally when her childhood furniture arrives at her home, and she and her husband play out a series of weird infantile psychodramas as an escape from the pressures of their bourgeois existence. More interesting than enjoyable, and I'm not always sure how interesting it really is. There's a certain brand of European '60s filmmaking that involves a lot of improvised shrieking and laughing and crying and rolling around on the floor that makes me question whether it's really as hollow as I think it is, or if I'm just not a sophisticated enough viewer to understand the power of it, or if its original power was really dependent on its context in the development of cinema. Maybe the answer is a little of everything.

THE SWEET HOURS: A Spanish writer's latest play parses the Freudian mysteries of his childhood, and he fully immerses himself in the rehearsals to seek the truth by reliving his memories. It's actually not that deep but maintains a great air of importance anyway.

NIGHT GAMES: A young aristocrat brings his bride to his childhood manse where their surroundings trigger immersive memories of his debauched youth, in which--wait a minute, am I watching the same fucking movie for the third time? Not really but that was weird. Criterion notes that this is supposedly John Waters' favorite movie, which makes a lot of sense when you've heard him say that he used to force Divine to drop acid with him and go see Bergman movies, which Divine HATED. What's really funny to me is that if you basically do not want to drop acid and watch a Bergman movie then you'd think nothing could make you do it more than once! The idea of John Waters tricking Divine into doing this repeatedly is fucking hilarious.

SAM NOW: Disturbing documentary made by some young dudes trying to find out why their mother suddenly abandoned them when they were kids. It's a decent enough movie but I was extremely unsettled by the blithe naivete of the young brothers set against the increasingly obvious fact that there's something pretty bad going on with the mom. Get ready for a lot of discomfort and unresolved questions if you watch this.

LIZZIE: Why is it that nobody has made a good Lizzie Borden movie? It's one of those overly familiar tales that's just sitting there in plain view still waiting for a solid adaptation, kind of like The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but that at least has the great Disney cartoon in among all the so-so film attempts. You really want this to be good with Kirsten Stewart and Chloe Sevigny AND Denis O'Hare who I love to death, but it's just not that compelling. Actually it doesn't even dig into the most interesting details of the story in my opinion, I guess we needed to save time for extra lesbian makeouts. Also I hate to say it but Chloe Sevigny is really miscast; I love her but her whole thing is being really easy-going and natural, and that doesn't really work for this character (or she's not getting the direction that worked on AHS). Oh well.

MAIDSTONE: See my notes at the end of HONEYCOMB. I found this almost totally unwatchable. I've never read any Norman Mailer. Is Norman Mailer still cool, or did he just seem cool to some people at the time? Was Norman Mailer sort of like an adolescent rebellion phase that American literature had to go through in order to get to wherever it is now? A cursory review of his legacy seems to indicate this. Or maybe it's just really hard for me to sympathize with someone who goes way out of his way to piss off women, and then his defense against the inevitable backlash is "SEE? Feminism is fascist bullshit because look how I'm being treated!" I still see men do this on the smaller scale of their personal relationships--you know the drill, drive some poor woman insane, and then when she acts insane, invalidate everything she says by calling her insane--and they don't even need the excuse of clumsy satire to keep doing it, so forgive me if I don't find this approach very radical. And that's all setting aside Mailer's fetishization of the American Negro for whom it is not my place to speak, but you can imagine what that consists of if you don't already know. In any case I did not enjoy this movie, but I was on the edge of my seat the entire time waiting for the infamous Rip Torn hammer attack. I developed this whole fantasy that Rip Torn must reach a point where he just can't take it anymore and he tries to kill Norman Mailer. I mean *I* sure wanted to kill Norman Mailer, somebody has to do it, right? There are several moments in the film where it seems like someone has finally snapped and the cathartic murder might take place. What actually happens is that Rip Torn wanders up to Norman Mailer with a claw hammer, totally wild-eyed, and declares that he has finally understood that this great work of art can only be resolved with the death of the character Mailer plays. He really seems to believe what he's saying, and the sequence is extremely disturbing. In a way it's even disappointing, there were perfectly good, sober reasons to kill Norman Mailer without putting an unstable person in a chaotic and violent situation where he might naturally flip the fuck out! If MAIDSTONE has anything to tell us about the myth of the cowboy auteur, it might be that somebody like Norman Mailer shouldn't have free reign to abuse large groups of people even in the name of social critique or whatever, because one of them might turn out to be fucking crazy.

WANDA: I love movies that are made in Pittsburgh, I find them all totally fascinating. Or even just Pittsburgh-adjacent, like contrary to everybody else my favorite part of THE DEER HUNTER is the very beginning with the wedding, it's totally captivating to me. Anyway this is an odd, grimy little drama written and directed by Barbara Loden in which she plays the most incompetent woman in the world. It's a good time for a bad time, and if you're watching closely you'll see a poster for THE BRAINIAC in one of the scenes!

KISS DADDY GOODBYE: Obscure psychic kids movies starring Marilyn Burns and Fabian. Marilyn Burns is the nice teacher and Fabian is the cop who try to solve the mystery of the psychic kids, so they inevitably have sex because we have time for that I guess, but man Fabian's like roadside bachelor pad is SO SCARY. It has to be somebody's real hoarder house and it looks like it should be condemned, I felt nervous for Marilyn Burns! Marilyn Burns do NO eat or drink anything that comes out of that kitchen! Have you had your tetanus shot Marilyn Burns? Please run screaming, this is not a normal bachelor pad mess and it is not a good place for you to be naked!

The End.

#long post

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stainlesssteellocust · 29 days

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Ok. Where should I start with the 40K novels?

I tried one like 15 years ago and it was bad, no memory of which. Generic space marine stuff. I like the setting and many games, though much of the fandom can be exhausting.

I trust your tastes!

Hmm. There are unfortunately rather more bad or mediocre ones than good, but let’s see. Hopefully your trust will not be misplaced!

Possibly my favourite is The Infinite and the Divine, by Robert Rath. It’s a tale of two Necrons, mad historian and archaeologist Trazyn the Infinite and his rival, oracle and time-wizard Orikan the Diviner, as they squabble over an artifact that could change the destiny of their people. A tale of petty scheming and Tom & Jerry nonsense that stretches for thousands of years. I’m currently reading Rath’s Siege of Cadia, and while it isn’t quite as good, more grand battles and the like, it’s still a good read so far.

Also about the Necrons is Severed by Nate Crowley, a lovely little novella about a Necron general who thinks he’s still flesh and blood, and his long-suffering assistant. The same author also has a few books out, called The Twice Dead King, and I’ve tried the first one. Found it slow going and got distracted, but maybe I wasn’t in the mood at the time. I’ve heard good things about it from others.

There’s the Cain series, which is considered a classic. It’s framed as the private memoirs of celebrated Imperial hero Ciaphas Cain, with asides from an Inquisitor he had a close relationship with. The joke is that, to hear Cain tell it, his reputation is a lie: He’s an utter coward who somehow manages to come out smelling of roses every time, is rewarded by being sent into ever nastier wars and situations, and ends up having to act like his false heroic persona in order to lever his reputation to survive.

It’s a slightly more comedic take on the setting than most, with an undercurrent of unreliable narration: It’s suggested that while Cain isn’t the square-jawed hero propaganda says he is, he’s a lot more heroic than he gives himself credit for, and the extend to which he’s really a coward as opposed to a brave man riddled with self loathing and imposter syndrome is left up in the air. Been a while but the ones I read tended to be fun, if slightly formulaic after a while.

I remember enjoying the old Sisters of Battle books by James Swallow, but I haven’t read them in many years so I’m not sure if they hold up. Same with the Eisenhorn series; both are due a reread and I’ll get back to you on whether they’re worth it.

Blades of Damocles is bolter porn but it’s relatively fun bolter porn, and watching the culture clash of the Imperium and the Tau is nice.

I originally got into 40k novels via William King’s stuff; his Ragnar stories are the usual Space Marine fare (star Viking flavour) but he’s more skilled with it than most. He also wrote the most iconic books for Warhammer Fantasy: The original run of Gotrek and Felix, about a dwarf who wishes to atone for an unnamed sin via dying in battle and the human poet who drunkenly agreed to write his death saga, and to his horror now finds himself dragged to the ends of the earth as Gotrek seeks a worthy death. According to fannish lore, their books were the most profitable part of the WHF IP when Games Workshop nuked that setting (a decision they appear to be rolling back).

And speaking of Fantasy, I personally liked the story Drachenfels, which begins in media res as a party of adventurers battles a dark lord…then cuts to years later as their leader, now a powerful politician, reunites his old party members. By putting on a play of their victory over the dark lord. In the dark lord’s castle. On the eve of his defeat. Which of course cannot possibly go wrong. No siree.

I’ll also throw in a couple of fanfics if you’re into that: Breaker of Chains and its two sequels (third instalment not finished) feature the Primarch Angron, in canon a servant of the Chaos god Khorne and leader of the berserk World Eater space marines. In canon Angron landed on the planet Nuceria as a child and led a slave rebellion against its masters only for the Emperor to snatch him away at the last moment to serve him, resulting in his comrades dying and Angron’s mind breaking, leading him to Chaos. In this story his Legion finds him first, his rebellion wins and he enters the wider galaxy relatively more well adjusted.

Relatively.

Whereas Suffer Not is the tale of an Inquisitor doing her best to actually make the galaxy a better place. Shockingly. Completed, has a sequel, got some negative fan attention because of its take on the setting but I rather liked it.

(Both of the above make the unusual choice of using second person, because they were interactive works: Readers would vote on the character’s next action, and the author would weave the result into the next update.)

I’m sure there’s a lot more stuff I’m missing, but that should be a good start.

#warhammer #warhammer 40000 #warhammer 40k #warhammer fantasy #if someone who has slogged through all the #Horus Heresy #books would like to chime in with which ones are worth anything that would be great #I’d like to know myself

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lanzhans-resting-bitchface · 7 months

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Language learning with media tips and recs for Mandarin

Once you've started to approach conversational level (or before then if you can't wait) a great way to build familiarity is watching shows in the language you are learning. But if you are still fairly new to the language there can still be a big gaps here, so I am sharing what's worked for me.

General tips

If you haven't already, I highly recommend adding two plugins to your browser: a speed controller and a dual subtitle plugin.

A speed controller is great for slowing it down when they are speaking too fast to process.

And while it's not great (for language learning purposes) to rely on native language subtitles, it's one way to enjoy watching a target language show and not have to engage so much of your brain (work and life can be draining) while still getting some benefit via exposure to culture, the sounds and (with a dual sub plugin) the words.

I use Chrome (yuck, I know) and the plugins DualSub and Video Speed Controller . There may be better ones out there, but I enjoy these. Dual Sub also has a " Chinese learning" option, which adds the pinyin as well, but I find it's not super reliable, not sure what I am doing wrong.

Also, side note: use Netflix in the browser for dual sub, if they have the subtitles you want.

Mandarin targeted tips

Watching shows produced in your target language is great practice but it can be hard to find sometimes, or expensive. The two best free options are YouTube and Viki, which come with their own pros and cons.

Youtube

Pros

If you search any show you want with "English subtitles" you are likely to find it

Accessible to anyone, I don't think anyone is unfamiliar with youtube

Cons

Grainy crunchy quality as expected

Subtitles are often in the video instead of as a subtitle file, so they are often also poor quality

You may or may not find a video with Chinese (simplified or traditional) subs as well

Rakuten Viki

Pros

Extensive collection of shows in mandarin

Chat function

Cons

Don't always have Chinese subtitles

With free version, ad breaks can sometimes be a lot

Chat function

Honestly I like the Viki chat, which is timed comments that you can toggle on or off, but as with any chat functionality, the comments vary wildly and can get a little unhinged (whether that's a pro or con is in the eye of the beholder).

Show Recs

Ok now the real reason for this post: an excuse to gush about my favorite shows lol.

The Untamed

Probably needs no introduction, but as my first cdrama it will always hold a special space in my heart.

Sales pitch: a very fun cast of characters with acting I really enjoyed (but sometimes on the cheesy side) and motivations I could understand, even if I disagreed with them. I don't think I truly hate any character in this show, even the annoying ones I enjoy mocking at least.

Vibes: epic historical fantasy drama with humor and angst and tragedy

Disclaimers: not everyone enjoys the acting as much as I did, many people dislike the deviations from the source material (including the censorship), regular drama pitfalls (pacing, cheesiness, etc)

Where to watch: Available on US Netflix or on Viki (although low quality unless you have a paid subscription)

My Uncanny Destiny

My favorite drama to date.

Sales pitch: an extremely funny satirical take on cdrama tropes, I laughed through pretty much all of it. Has very progressive themes for the setting and handles them well (but humorously). The main couple's dynamic was fantastic.

Vibes: comedic historical drama with depth

Disclaimers: I personally think it is a lot funnier if you are at least passingly familiar with cdrama tropes as the premise of the show relies on flipping these (esp gendered ones), a fair amount of potty/gross out humor (but not all of it), the writing does drop off a little towards the end

Where to watch: viki

God Troubles Me

For the animation fans

Sales pitch: an animated show that is also really great for learning more about modern Chinese culture, I love the light hearted humor and ridiculous characters in this. While there is a loose overarching plot dealing with gods and monsters, it's actually very much a slice of life show

Vibes: cozy fun comedy

Disclaimers: while it's a great way to learn about Chinese culture, that can also be one of the biggest hurdles to engaging with it, especially if you are not very knowledgeable yet (like me!). Because it assumes the audience is already familiar, some jokes/details/plots may be confusing.

Where to watch: US Netflix.

#the untamed #my uncanny destiny #god troubles me #language learning #mandarin learning #chinese learning #language learning tools

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fullmusicbardsquared · 6 months

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Tell me more about that little jester guy oc you have and also the cunty person in blue with him

:o]

ok!!!! it is late at night where i am (sorry i didn't see this ask before) so apologies if this is perhapes rambling.

those 2 ocs, The Jester (self-explanatory) and Gittens RIL (blue), are a part of my silly little jukebox musical portal fantasy/isekai..thing. this story specifically involves new wave music, and i am being literal when i say the characters there are personifications of songs. to summarize it without sounding nuts the song characters work on pseudo-video game NPC logic- 'programmed' to do certain things and prioritize them. this applies to narrator characters and narrated ones- like ik this isn't new wave but a hypothetical Piano Man character would be several, the titular piano man and the people he describes in the bar.

so. isekai. The Jester is the main character and he is NOT FROM THIS WORLD!!! as is the trend with isekais. he doesn't remember his past or anything and as such the 80s-ness of the world is like being awoken with blaring synthesizers and lights. Jes finds most of the people there confusing and thinks most of the songs are annoying especially when they lead to him getting hit in the head and stuff, and this 'torment' becomes actually worse as he slowly transforms from 'human' into that little porcelain doll thing. now he has neither memories nor senses! hurrah! zounds! He Hates It So Much. his primary goal is to find out who he is and where he came from, which is hopefully less overwhelming than this world. not to say it's terrible- some people are more nice than others, though there's only one person he actually likes. my goal in writing him is to comedically hit him with hammers.

okay. Gittens RIL Time. i don't know if Gittens is cunty. But he is a personification of the Talking Heads song Born Under Punches, a song that is vaguely surreal but has repeated motifs of trying to catch up and find a stopping point, a place to breathe, 'relax'. Gittens is a government man who does government things- busy work, essentially, forever. this manifests in intense migraines and vertigo. unless he's singing (read: having a breakdown), he acts like this doesn't affect him much, and has a persona of like. flat neutral happiness. his main wish is to not have an inescapable purpose, even if it seems impossible. also he has pigeon wings and a tail but he can't fly. there are 2 reasons for this. 1) there is a pigeon called the parlor roller that is completely incapable of flight, instead somersaulting on the ground there's a metaphor here. 2) it makes him a tumbler pigeon and i love puns. he is my favorite guy i've ever made i think .

sorry this took 2 hours to answer and only has like 50 words . THANK YOU FOR ASKING HOWEVER YAYYYYY :D!!!!!<3

#asks #juniebugsss #vinyl hell tag

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highlyanxiousintroverted · 4 months

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Ok so..I've been playing this VN i found on my recommendations and I'm loving it. It's called i love my follower (count) by but wholesome game.

I only manage to get 3 endings and a true ending so far. In total it has 18 endings so yeah, expect me to play it all over again. Not that i mind, i like seeing Theo and Acoite dynamic.

About

You are an Eldritch horror, summoned to the human realm.

You’re soon to realize, however, that you have more in common with your followers than you thought - they, too, have a longing for The Void.

The Void in their case is, however, mostly something they call ‘y2k’ and ‘retro anime aesthetics’.

But oh well, every god needs clout.

Build your church, gain followers, give away miracles. Romance your head priest. Or don't.

Content warning

Comedic treatment of fantasy violence (nothing too graphic), non-consensual mind-reading and mind-altering, dismemberment, politics, late capitalism, existentialism, death, Death, Slavoj Žižek. Foul language

Might be read as religious satire.

#visual novel #i love my follower (count)#acoite #Theodore

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re-bee-key · 1 year

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Hey Willow Fandom, I have a wild theory. Im doing a rewatch, and I'm at the scene in The Gales where Graydon reads the Pnakoptic written on the Mother's Gate. And as he is reading, the world shakes. Specifically when he mentions the Wyrm's Harbinger.

And when we get to the end of the season, Graydon wakes up in the Wyrm's domanion. With what seems like an illusion of Elora. (I have mixed feelings on if she is Wyrm Illusion Elora or Corrupted Future Elora.) And she tells him she needs him. To bring her light to the world. Very creepy Wyrm shit.

And, when the Crone is dying, she tells Airk he is the chosen Harbinger.

And this got me thinking, there must be some kind of prophecy for the Harbinger. Just like there was for Elora. Whispered hopes among the evil who serve the Wyrm.

I think in this prophecy, it must have been said that the Harbinger would be a man of great power. One to rival Elora's.

Which is why the Crone kidnaps Airk. Because he has the blood of Bavmorda, which should, in theory, mean he has great magic potential.

I think Sorsha suspects this, and that's why she gives the warning to Kit.

But I think the Crone got the prophecy wrong. I think Graydon was the dark prince promised. I mean, heck, still at a beginner level, he impressed the Crone with his magic. If the Wyrm were to guide him and lend him his magic, then Graydon could have unlimited potential.

Graydon is the Harbinger.

Which is why the ground shook when he read the bloody runes. Its like a narrative forshadowing of his destiny.

Or, at least. Thats my theories. Im pretty sure the writer gave him such a minor, comedic role to make it more shocking and novel when this is all revealed.

I also think it lends to a potentially cool "fuck destiny" moment. That i think everyone in the party needs to have.

Anways. Thanks for coming to my rambling ted talk.

Side thought: I saw on some fandom wiki that Pnakoptic is a reference to a Lovecraft story. And I think that is so interesting. Like. This means the Wyrm is more than some lazy "fantasy devil lord of darkness" reference. No, the Wyrm is a straight up Lovecraftian elder god.

Its interesting that he's a wyrm. Because worms bore holes into things. Their bodies snaked and nestled snug inside. Like a parasite it feeds and the thing dies.

I think the Wyrm is doing that to the planet. We see him in his own realm. But we are told he's actually some place sleeping. So what if is just a dream realm we see. And his real self is snaked deep throughout the world. His body appearing on the surface occasionally as we see when Elora looks out the door.

Eldricht gods are beings of illusions and nightmares and horrors beyond compression and possession. Above all, they are of unknowable madness and manipulation.

Also, a key thing. They are beings of knowledge.

Graydon is the smartest person in the party. He's basically done nothing but read his entire life.

Most people in eldricht horror stories that try to understand elder gods knowledge go mad. And maybe thats what the lich process is in Willow. The Crone and all them are corrupted by the power and knowledge the Wyrm can give.

Which brings us to Graydon. Maybe he's smart enough that he can learn without getting too corrupted. His mind in tact, so the Wyrm can have a tool, not a puppet.

In most Eldricht stories, people who mess with dark magic die. I know Graydon "died" so this is a mooy point. But still.

I hope, that the show continues to subvert tropes and that there are themes of fighting against destiny. And we see Graydon either not becoming the Harbinger, or using his Harbinger powers for good instead of evil.

Ok, second ramble over.

#willow 2022 #willow spoilers #willow analysis #graydon hastur

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cj-the-random-artist · 8 months

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I've had thoughts about a random au I've come up with and this is the rambly post about it because it's consuming my brain, enjoy

Ok I wanna make a rambly words post because I just came up with a hermitcraft / life series / empires / whoever I could add because it's funny AU that's been sitting in my brain for several days and I've had coherent thoughts about it as of now where I feel like I can say words about it so. Gonna make a rambly post about it so I can say words about this really random idea I had that I'll probably use as an excuse to practice comics

I don't have a proper title for it yet but basically the idea is a semi-medieval fantasy world where most of the hermits / life series / empires people all live in this village / town around this castle (or outside the town) and there's marketplace and magic and all that. And there's fae folk (less evil than in a lot of folklore), and elves and dwarves and humans and ghosts and werewolves and such (notably, unlike a lot of fantasy media the dwarves and elves do not hate each other, lol). Anyways.

The entire premise of this AU is that it would follow a half-drawven Impulse, and his roommate and best friend Skizz, who was blessed by the fae folk to have a silver tongue (he's not 100% convincing but he's very convincing to most people). They live just outside of town near Gem (elf, alchemist), Pearl (human, former high priestess from the disbanded following of the Sun goddess Pearl), and the Ranchers who live on a ranch together and they take care of cows and chickens and horses and Tango tinkers in his free time and stuff. And Zed's this guy who lives in a cave not far from them and he's buddies with them and stuff. Anyways. Impulse is a blacksmith and he makes weapons / tools / parts and stuff. And he's good at it but he never goes into town, it's Skizz who goes into town and sells Impulse's wares (he's a very convincing salesman). But every now and then, Skizz manages to convince Impulse to come into town himself. And Impulse is hesitant but eventually relents and goes into town. But every time he goes into town, some kind of shenanagins go down, like dragons or monster hunters or drawing the attention of the royal guards or something. Like I have episode type stuff planned where Impulse goes into town and he gets dragged to the castle and has to spend a night in jail with travelling bard Oli Orionsound because he didn't know he had to pay taxes and was committing unintentional tax evasion or something. Idk it's just mostly random tidbits right now but I think it would be really funny to make this comedic medieval fantasy type setting with silly, lighthearted shenanagins and stuff. It's a thought I've had and I also don't have a name for this AU or anything but I think it would be funny. Anyways

I'm planning on making a couple of comics about this cuz I think it would be really funny to make something with this, and it's good comic-making practice, and also I'm posting this up here so I can hold myself to it cuz I need accountability (lol). But anyways. If y'all have questions or anything, lmk cuz this has completely consumed my brain for the past few days and enjoy this long paragraph of random semi-coherent ideas :D

#hermitcraft au #life series au #empires smp au #cj the random artist makes an au #lmk if there's anything else i should use to tag this?? i havent made an au in forever so idk how to tag this properly

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sleepsentry · 1 year

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I saw your “Muse” rendition of Bill and Ford for the first time a few months ago and it’s had a chokehold on me ever since. I fuckin LOVE your style I love how organic and, like, round(????) everything is,, I love your colors I love they way you draw the way faces pull and smush with expression I love just scrolling through your acct

Thank you! That "roundess" you're talking about is probably a product of me growing up with French/Belgian comics from the 1960s to 1990s (they where my dad's and grandparent's).

I loved how animated everything looked and I would try and incorporate some of that dynamism into my art.

Thanks for leaving a message! I'm very glad some of my stylistic inspiration is visibly paying off. :]

Feel free to skip the info dump below.

INFO DUMP:

They have a very dynamic and exaggerated style that is used in serious or silly tones very effectively. It works well for both and I always appreciated the more flexible attitude to tone and contents that they had, it didn't feel as sectioned into demographics as American or British stories often where.

There was no "child" or "adult" style, at least not as obviously. There where stylistic differences and tonal differences, but not as strict. Obviously I wasn't reading the stories with war and death and guns in them, there was a "kids section".

There are a lot of different series out there, but I mostly read the older ones we already owned.

There where a few series from the 2000s we had issues of but most of the "modern" comics I read where from old comic magazine issues from the early 2000s to the early to mid 2010s.

I grew up on a lot of the "classic" series:

My dad and grandparent's tastes clearly preferred the more comedic or light-hearted stories.

There where more serious stories, that where very Indiana Jones, Lupin the III, James Bonde, and other cis/hetero/male power fantasies.

Globe trotting, paternal colonial undertones, two French guys in the 70s to 90s writing about very serious issues as the backdrop of their stories.... you get the idea. --r----a----c-----i-----s-----t----

[OK so I've tried making this post ten times now and it's not been saving to my drafts. The only reason I can think of is me mentioning the "dated" elements of the older stories in their "less than kind depictions of women and minorities." Yep, changed the wording and it saved just fine. :/]

These stories where predictably shitty in that sense, in a very casual way, rather than being incredibly hateful or loud about it. An alternative flavour of horrible?

Lots of inaccurate and harmful caricatures.

On a completely different note:

If these stories where more well known in America this Z guy would be a tumblr sexy man.

And Gaston LaGaffe would be a tumblr sillyman: He's very cute. ^^

Neurodivergent King. :]

First character that made me understand what a "man" was, in a way that made sense to me.

#asks and answers #depuis #spirou #gaston lagaffe #marsupilami #not art

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