#it just sounds too... franchise-y. if that makes sense.
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I just popped into the Mairon tag to peruse fun fan content to end my night with, as I usually do; that's all I wanted T___T
#oh the dangers of going into the tags#i'm so tired#idk i just see the word 'adaptation' now and get exhausted lmao#i hope whatever they're cooking up is decent; i really do#i think we all could use a good old fashioned fantasy film these days#i'm just cynical and don't think that's what we'll be getting :/#it just sounds too... franchise-y. if that makes sense.
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Flustered
Franchise: Star Wars
Pairing: Poe Dameron x male reader (oneshot)
Word Count: 1436
Warnings: swearing, implied smut, mentions of drinking/being drunk, hickeys, implied anal, flustered Poe (not a warning, just something to look forward to)
Summary: You had always had a crush on your best friend Poe Dameron, but for a long time, you never told him. You didn’t want to ruin the friendship you had. While he flirted with you sometimes, you always figured it was just him messing with you. So imagine your surprise when you wake up after a long night in the cantina. In Poe’s bed. In your underwear. With his shirt on.
A/N: A little draft I've had for a bit but never posted. First implied smut I've ever shared with the world, actually...
You blink your eyes open slowly, feeling the sunlight bathe your face through a nearby window. The bed is warm and you don’t want to get up. You close your eyes again. You keep yourself curled up under the covers and inhale deeply. A familiar scent that isn’t yours hits your nose, which you find odd because you’re nose-blind to the smell of your room. You open your eyes again to observe your surroundings properly.
This isn’t your room.
In your room, there’s a bookshelf within your line of sight from the bed. Instead, there’s a chair with clothes on it; your clothes and someone else’s. You notice your pants on the floor next to the chair and realize you’re in your underwear. Your shirt is on the floor too. That doesn’t make sense… you’re wearing a shirt…
You pull the blanket down a little to observe the shirt you’re in. It’s Poe’s. You remember it because he was wearing it…
Last night.
The sound of beeping meets your ears. You roll onto your back and stare down at the end of the bed, at the source of the noise.
BB-8. Poe’s droid best friend.
Your eyes widen and you turn to look at the sleeping body next to you.
Poe, snoring softly. The blanket only covers from his waist down and he’s not wearing a shirt. Well, of course, he’s not wearing a shirt. You’re wearing his shirt. His dark hair is all over the place and you have to resist the urge to brush some of his curls out of his face.
Sorry, what were you thinking?
You have only a vague memory of what happened last night. Poe was bored and wanted to go to the cantina for a drink. He’d invited you to go with him, of course, and you said sure. You mostly went because you didn’t want to see him get into trouble. You were just trying to make sure he didn’t drink too much, or try something he doesn’t know or shouldn’t get into. Yeah, the cantina closest to the Resistance base is mostly safe, but there are visitors from other planets that aren’t as trustworthy as members of the Resistance.
You remember Poe barely leaving your side that night. Anywhere he went, he dragged you along with him. The two of you spent most of your time leaning against the bar, talking about this and that. You remember how effortlessly pretty he looked - how effortlessly pretty he always looks.
You hadn’t had much to drink at first, wanting to keep yourself as coherent as possible, but you’ve noticed that drinking always amplifies your feelings. Poe, on the other hand, was downing drinks as fast as the bartender would give them to him. He looked like he was trying to work up the courage to do something or say something, but all it seemed to do was get him drunk. He appeared flustered that night; mostly when he looked at you. When you had teased him about it, his face went red and he would look away.
A soft, tired groan pulls you from your thoughts. You look back at Poe, who’s started to wake up. Your heart starts beating a little faster. He’s scowling, but only because the sun is in his eyes. He may be awake but he clearly isn’t ready to be.
BB-8 beeps at the end of the bed and Poe frowns. His eyes are still closed.
“Y/N in my bed?” He grumbles. “I wish. You break a circuit last night?”
“Morning, sleepyhead,” you mumble teasingly.
Poe’s eyes fly open. He yelps in surprise and jumps so high that he falls off the edge of the bed. “Fuck!” He exclaims when you hear a thud; he hit the floor hard.
“Shit, are you okay?” You ask quickly, crawling across the bed and looking down at him. One of his hands is holding his head and the other is draped lazily over his stomach. He groans.
“Head hurts,” he murmurs.
“Well, you were drinking a lot last night.”
Poe scoffs. “I didn’t drink that much… did I?”
“Yes, you did, actually. I tried to stop you.”
“I didn’t listen, did I?”
“No, you did not.”
Poe sighs, pushing himself into a sitting position. It’s at that moment he realizes he’s in his underwear too. His eyes widen. He looks at you, looks at himself, then looks at you again as he tries to pull the blanket down to cover himself. You pull it in your direction at the same time; if he takes too much of it, he’ll see that you’re in your underwear too.
After a moment of tug-of-war, he stops, his eyes raking over your body.
“Is that my shirt?”
You let go of the blanket. “Yep.”
“Why are you wearing my shirt?”
“I have no idea.”
“If you’re so confused about it, then why haven’t you taken it off?” Poe asks.
“Would you like me to take it off?” You tease. You’re not sure what’s come over you. You’re just as confused as he is, you have no idea what happened last night, and here you were messing with him as usual.
Poe blushes red, carding his fingers through his hair.
“I… you… uh…”
“Am I making you a little flustered?” You smirk down at him.
Poe clears his throat, looking up at you. “No,” he says. His warm brown eyes tell you otherwise. You raise an eyebrow. He chews on his lip a little. “…Maybe.”
“Before we address that,” you say, “maybe we should address the bantha in the room?”
“Probably, yeah.”
“We’re in our underwear.”
“You’re in your underwear too?” Poe asks. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he almost sounds excited.
“What, you want me to move the blanket and show you?”
“Sorry. Continue.”
“We’re in our underwear. Our clothes are over there. I’m in your shirt. In your bed. We were drinking. Something happened last night.”
Poe narrows his eyes. “What’s that on your neck?”
You frown, touching your collarbone. The fact that you’re in your underwear leaves your mind as you clamber out of the bed and slip into the bathroom, looking in the mirror. Sure enough, there’s a mark just above your collarbone. You pull Poe’s shirt off over your head and see a couple other similar marks over your torso.
“You gave me hickeys,” you say in a toneless voice, tracing your finger over the marks like they’re constellations.
You hear Poe scrambling to his feet, rushing to you. “I did what?” He asks, awe evident in his voice. His eyes widen when you turn to him. “Woah. I did that?”
“Well, who the else would it be?” You point out.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” you murmur, looking in the mirror again. “I kinda like them…”
“You… you do?”
“Well, I like who they’re from, so…” You meet his gaze in the mirror.
Poe’s eyes are wide and his tongue darts out to wet his lips. “I like who I gave them to.”
“Still feeling flustered?”
He chews on his lip again. “Absolutely.” He steps out of the bathroom for a second. “Hey, BB-8?” He says to his droid. “How about you go hang out with R2 for a while?” He lets BB-8 out of the room and immediately closes the door, returning to you. “Now, where were we?”
“Right about here, I think,” you say slowly, stepping towards him and gripping his hips. Your face is only a couple inches away from his and he gazes into your E/C eyes, his own being darker than usual, full of lust.
“Would you just kiss me already?” He whispers.
“You sure?”
Poe raises an eyebrow. “My ass hurts and you’re covered in hickeys, so I’m fairly certain we fucked last night. I’m pretty damn sure about a kiss.”
You grin. “Just making sure, baby.”
You pull him flush against you, pressing your lips to his in a slow, deep kiss. Poe drapes his arms around your neck, his fingers tangling themselves into your hair. His lips move against yours in perfect harmony, your grip on his hips tightening as the kiss continues. After a long moment, he pulls away, looking at you with hooded eyes.
“Can we do whatever we did last night again?”
“We don’t know what we did last night.”
“Then can we make some new memories of a… similar fashion?” His “innocent” gaze studies your face, his skillful fingers still playing with your hair.
A grin stretches over your face as your hands begin to roam his toned body. “Absolutely.”
#poe dameron x male reader#poe dameron#male reader#star wars x male reader#the force awakens#the last jedi#the rise of skywalker#star wars#x male reader#poe dameron smut
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An Aeka Fictive's Guide to Watching "Tenchi Muyo!", part 1: the OVA continuity
Greetings, friends, mutuals, partners, metamours, and perfect strangers! Perhaps you are wondering what this anime franchise is in which I seem to be deeply invested? Well, worry not! I am here to rant at you about it.
Beginning in 1992, the Tenchi Muyo! franchise is one of the more sprawling and complex canons of anime. It was one of the first anime to make it big in the west among self-identified anime fans, while the market was stll struggling with popular appeal. It eventually aired on the Cartoon Network's Toonami block and became a nostalgic hit for viewers who were too removed from affordable rentals of the VHS cassettes and later DVD releases; a generation or two of fans now fondly remember the characters with adaptations for the American market like adding in a "Y" to the character Aeka's name under the assumption English speakers would read the "ae" as singular sound, instead of two distinct vowels.
From the OAVs (Original Animated Videos) that started it all, through the multiple TV shows, theatrical releases, spin-offs, video games, novels, and two distinct continuities of prose fiction, it can be a little overwhelming.
That, in a very literal sense, is why I am here. My name is Aidel Rayarvol-Spillbaum, and I am a fictive of Masaki Aeka Jurai. As someone whose identity is founded on the Tenchi Muyo! franchise (and a princess in particular) as a source, you can be assured that I have strong opinions that are rooted in being well-informed about the franchise's history and diverse incarnations.
The first thing you should know:
The majority of the Tenchi franchise as it stands at present is utter rubbish that I would only recommend as an example of "what not to do". The problem, you see, is rooted in that sprawling nature. Thus, here is your guide to what to watch and read, and what to avoid.
(For consistency's sake, all character and creators names will be given in the format of their country of origin; Family Name and then Given Name for the characters and Japanese crew, Given Name and then Family Name for the Canadian/American crew)
Tenchi Muyo: Ryo-Ohki
The series that started it all—unless you count a single-frame glimpse of a prototype design of Ryoko to be found in the midst of an episode of Ranma ½ Nettōhen.
Ah yes, that legendary Ranma fandom favorite, Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo!
But first, some wordplay: "Tenchi Muyo!" as a title is written 天地無用, more often seen on packaging as the Japanese equivalent of "This Side Up". It roughly means "Do Not Switch Top And Bottom", and is written with characters more often interprested as "Heaven and Earth" and "Useless", with the switch/reversal part being implied. It suggests the upheaval of the main character's lifestyle...while also giving us a secondary meaning: "Tenchi is Useless", or in the more canonized English translation No Need for Tenchi.
(via characterdesignreferences.com)
That, in four kanji, is the plot: a boy named Tenchi has his life flipped upside down and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there by the arrival of a seemingly ever-growing collection of beautiful alien women who squabble over him to the point that he might as well not even be present. It is what western anime fans think of as the standard of the "harem" genre: a seemingly unremarkable boy attracts improbable numbers of unusually attractive (and often just unusual) women who for some reason think he's the greatest thing to come out of Japan since miso paste.
Spoiling the plot beyond that is no more necessary than Tenchi himself, since the OAV series began as a mere six episodes, going from Ryoko Resurrected to We Need Tenchi, followed by the bonus The Night Before the Carnival. Featuring concepts by ThunderCats animator Hayashi Hiroki and the Okayama-born Kajishima Masaki , this first batch of canon had scripts written by Hasegawa Naoko and are highly recommended as an introduction to the franchise.
This is where things become immediately complicated.
Kajishima lent his given name to the series's protagonist Masaki Tenchi as a family name, and pushed for the action that didn't take in place to be set in a quiet rural part of the Okayama Prefecture. Kajishima claims that the ideas that came out of him working with Hayashi were based on concepts he'd been working on since he was a teenager...while Hayashi's account suggests that the conceps were more the result of his and Kajishima's original pitch having been a Bubblegum Crisis spin-off as a slice-of-life comedy.
What's evident is that Kajishima had some big ideas for the series that he wasn't clearly communicating to others; Hasegawa would later recount how often details of the vision he shared with her during her writing of the scripts for the first six episodes (and a later series of Tenchi Muyo! light novels she authored) were after-the-fact, shocking her with major character reveals that probably could have better informed characterization in those first few episodes.
The thing was, the fans wanted more. Tenchi Muyo! was a hit, and spun off into the aforementioned novels by Hasegawa. An author's note from the first novel (One Visitor After Another: Hexagram of Love) reveals just how complicated this became:
Well, y’see I’ve kinda just about finished my first novel. Are you absolutely sure...
(via Tenchi Muyo! FAQ)
Released starting in May of '93 when the fandom was still waiting for more, Hasegawa's light novel series offered development for which the fans were desperate, and established the first divergent reality, the "Hasegawa Canon" that was for a time considered by the Japanese fandom to be part of the official OAV continuity. The first novel introduced concepts like the connection between Tsunami and Washu...as well as a fan-favorite character that many western fans don't know got her start in this branch of the OAVs, Mihoshi's partner Makibi Kiyone.
(image via No Need to Review Tenchi)
The light novels have yet to get an official English translation of any sort, but for a time, these (and an assortment of audio-only CD dramas introducing new characters and plots) were enough for the Japanese fandom....
But only for a time. At the onset of 1994, a manga began to be released, with art and stories by a little-known mangaka, Okuda Hitoshi. Okuda's characteristic style (further developed in his original series Detatoko Princess) shines through in his interpretations of the character designs.
The writing and art has a much more "gag manga" feel to it, even when the story turns serious. Still, it was some of the earliest Tenchi content this system's previous host had available to her, and so I have a certain fondness for it and the new characters it introduced, like the nervous shipwright Asahi, and Ryoko's much more meek and kindly clone Minagi.
The official translation also dates back to when English language publishers would flip the art for an American audience. Check which version you've picked up: left to right, or right to left?
The different tone carries into jokes like the characters debating who would be who among the characters in a Mito Komon parody, pointing out sound effects as if they were physical objects, or referencing the relative density of the screentone used to render Mihoshi's comparatively darker skin.
The later run of the manga was able to take advantage of details communicated in the light novels (perhaps as well as Kajishima's self-published dōjinshi full of sketches and concepts), such as Aeka's hair being naturally a curly blue-green.
The manga assumes you watched the first six episodes of the OAV, and marks a second branching continuity from them...soon followed by a third:
The little-known Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-Ohki game for the PC Engine (and later remade with bonus material for the PC-FX) split off into its own short-lived continuity. The game borrowed Kiyone and introduced another Galaxy Police officer, the high-strung and intense Hakua, voiced by Suzuki Masami in a performance so identicaly to her portrayal of Amelia wil Tesla Saillune in the Slayers anime that you can effectively know everything you need to know about Hakua by thinking of her as "Amelia from Slayers, as a space cop".
Other characters made minor appearances in both the original and remake, including the little-known Earthling Makura from the drama CDs showing up here as a pizza delivery girl and martial artist...are we certain that Ranma 1/2 is not part of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise?
(Makura defends Aeka, via Legendaryanimefanjp1's playthrough)
But such a high degree of popularity meant that the OAV's creators could not leave well enough alone. Come the Fall of 1994, the next batch of six OAV episodes began, focused on a storyline about Ryoko being replaced by a duplicate...and then visits from the adults of the royal throuple family of Jurai.
The start of the second batch of episodes marks the departure of Hasegawa and Hayashi from the franchise; Hayashi expressed both a dissatisfaction with how the characters turned out compared to his vision, and a disinterest in getting involved in Tenchi as such a large-scale project. It is in these episodes and the following light novels more directly co-written by Kajishima that we start to see Kajishima's ideal for the franchise starting to take shape, with a deeply complicated family tree that unfortunately means every major cast member is somehow related to another.
For almost a decade, that was it for the OAV continuity. And, in my opinion...that's the limit of what you need to worry about.
2003 brought a third OAV series that introduced yet another member of the harem and Mihoshi's weird little brother, 2016 saw a fourth series that focused on Tenchi's father remarrying and the development of relationships and expectations placed on Tenchi and his multiple love interests, and ing 2020 a fifth series developed plot points from the spinoffs and Japan-only novels and firmly established that Tenchi would marry all of the girls. 2002 brought us Tenchi Muyo! GXP, a spin-off focused on a luckless childhood friend of Tenchi being effectively press-ganged into joining the Galaxy Police and given his own harem, while 2009 gave us War on Geminar, a spin-off focused on Tenchi's half-brother getting isekai'ed and becoming the protagonist of his own harem.
Are you noticing a pattern, there? Well, don't worry about it too much: it's all garbage. GXP is almost watchable, but Kajishima considered it a failure of his vision due to directorial interference, and wrote another series of light novels focused on making sure that protagonist Seina's harem got even bigger and more complicated—a plan eventually realized in last year's Paradise Starting OAV.
Don't recognize any of these characters? Well, you see, you'd need to have read the spinoff novels that were never translated into English...and be familiar with the prose-only untranslated alternate canon of another spinoff...and possibly a bit drunk because by that point I cannot imagine you wanting to be sober....
As I said, the OAV continuity beyond the second series is not recommended. The shift to digipaint weathered a lot of the charm of the visuals, while an excessive use of badly-inegrated CG for vehicles (including poor Ryo-Ohki) took that weathered charm and tossed it in the garbage. Both the original Japanese and the English dub are affected by the death or departure of the original voice actors for major characters.
In summary: the only parts of the OAV continuity that I can really recommend to an audience that is not fluent in Japanese are the first two series, and the Okuda manga.
Join us next time, when I tackle the multiple TV series continuities...or at least, the only one worth watching.
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Aikatsu song reviews: Glass Doll
Song
I like to think of this as the Aikatsu song that gets everyone excited, but I'm sure that can't be true of everyone... it's still an Aikatsu classic and one of the franchise's best works, though. It's heavy enough to appease those who are fans of gothic metal, but light enough to appease those who aren't... I think. Even if it doesn't have metal-style screams and growls, the influence is still there – the song's composer stated that the song was inspired by Dream Theater and Nightwish. And honestly it doesn't need to get any more metal than it is – I'm sure it already scared the kids anyway.
The intro does a great job building up the tension, using a keyboard or synth organ to achieve a very glassy sound, and repeating the same pattern to somehow make the listener feel unease and a false sense of security at the same time. As the glassy pattern repeats, you know it's going to change somehow and get even scarier. Sure enough, the beat drops and the song straight up turns into metal, but it's surprisingly clean metal that's atmospheric but not overwhelming. As the song goes on, the melody takes on a tone more reminiscent of pop-rock, but it still retains the atmospheric heaviness that makes it special.
In a lot of Aikatsu songs, the synth instruments blend in well with the live instruments, but in this song, the divide is quite obvious. The synths (especially the keyboard) have a sort of blocky, computer-y quality that stands out against the more expressive sounds of the guitar and bass. Sometimes it straight-up sounds like video game sound effects. Also, the percussion during the first verse is kind of annoying. I don't know if they were trying to go for the sound of a shutter flapping in the wind or some kind of creepy atmospheric thing or what, but it's just annoying to me.
Personally, I think the guitar 'solo' (technically not a solo since it also has drums and keyboard) is too long, and I found myself getting bored/annoyed before it was even halfway done. But I do understand that a minute-and-a-half guitar solo is exactly what this song needs in order to get the metalheads sold on it. I get it.
Vocals
They're the biggest thing holding this song back from being "true" metal, but honestly, I don't see it as a problem. It's a mistake to assume that all rock songs need powerful vocals. Yurika's voice gives the song a slightly delicate quality that makes the song feel more mature, and Sunao's backing vocals help create a haunting vibe.
In the Juri & Rin version, Rin's vocals are basically what you'd expect, and Juri... wow. She really gives the song a whole new life with her ethereal, emotional singing style. I can almost imagine her singing this under a spotlight while dangling from a chandelier and holding a single wilting rose. Miho sings this song in a way that shows how Juri is both a singer and an actress.
Lyrics
Depression. These are lyrics about depression! I mean, they're also just "gothic sounding" lyrics that convey the image of a vampire rock idol, but they're definitely about a person in distress. There are multiple times when I felt depressed and started crying and then just decided "you know what, it's Glass Doll time". And this song helped me, honestly.
Choreography
They were definitely going for a live rock show feeling... in vibes, not practicality. It looks like something that might work for a real concert, until the performers hilariously start running away from the microphones and just running all over the stage. There are also some unfitting bouncing/shaking movements during parts with a slower, heavier rhythm. Honestly, the choreography is probably the weakest thing about this song, especially with the awkward early CGI and a lot of angles that don't do it any favours. However, I do like the choreography near the end, especially the knocking part.
Visuals
I love the stage design!!! I especially like the bat-shaped chandeliers, wrought iron fence, and blue roses with curling vines. They even had gold bats escape from the Special Appeal and fly around the stage at the end of Yurika's performance in episode 20. The dark stage works really well against Yurika's clear white aura that glows like a ghost.
It's a real shame they never reworked the performance with updated CGI. It would've looked so good.
Good points: Intense atmosphere, good lyrics, reaches a level of hardcore rarely found in children's anime music
Bad points: Guitar solo is too long, some instrumentals have a slightly stilted or computer-y quality
Rating: 9.6/10
Personal rating: Also 9.6/10, even though I think I like this song more than most people do.
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all my notes on episodes 44 and 45:
the Beth and Ron intro and "Ron...what are we?" made laugh while in a dead quiet bus on a border crossing while people were getting their passports checked and maybe THAT'S why the officer was rude to me
directly from my notes: "google lauren booger??? over the panrs hj in beetlejuice the musical, transphobic? okay i googled her ANTHONY WHAT THE FUCK"
ron sounds like Jennifer Coolidge in this episode
"Taylor walks in and looks at him a s i a n l y" *anthony losing it* "roll intimidation" -> i think i got a fever from how hard I laughed
*guitar strumming* "hold on Freddy's cooking" 🎵would you say a slurrrr. if you saw me in heaven🎵
listen you can't APOLOGISE away killing someone but Scarys grown as a person and Beths speech was very well composed
Taylor I love you forever (already rolling up sleeves, "you wanna go", stuttering over his words, the moment someone questions his dad's power) Freddy is a genius for this character
I relate to Normal painfully this episode. him welling up with tears and him feeling left out while people yry to comfort him in vain is like integral to my middle school experience
"schooled in jail" is so Scary of Link. shes really emo-fied them I appreciate that. I appreciate her influence.
i cannot get over the "chaos orbs" joke because everytime i just think they're talking about the fucking chaos emeralds from the sonic franchise
*crying* IM A BAD PERSON! RON! DADDY! -> I love Terry Jr charactarisation. I love how guilt has been eating him up. I love how he still loves Ron so much. I love that he still goes to his dad. I love them sm.
Ron is just Gandalf in the way hes an old man with wisdom everyone respects despite him making no sense sometimes.
I love Ron's charactarisation. How he tries to help Nick and "you lied to me kiddo" and how he's honest with Nick and fuck I miss Ron. Beth is doing a fantastic job.
Nick is so fucking cool.
Nick and Terry Jr were best friends? Was this established before?
ooh i love the just TASTY instrumentals as anthony describes the daddy magic
I LOVE NICK. hes so fucked uo and traumatised and he isn't exactly trying his best but that is due to the things he went through and he's going through so much but he loves Taylor even more and UGGGH the fuckign Close family man.
Taylor and Glenn interacting is always just Freddy going:
"if you found time travel maguc maybe you could pick me up and we could do childhood all over again" -> I don't want to hear ANYBODY say that Freddy's characters are one-note. He knows exactly who they are and exactly how to play them and they're endlessly fascinating to me.
Taylor and Normal volunteering to be kings of hell and getting themselves in a cage is so good. like from a character perspective. "fear. fear in talkors eyes. why did i open my mouth?" is SO fucking good. it does so much for portraying Taylors thought process or lack thereof. it does so much to paint how he reacts emotionally to things. Normal's desperate need for validation leading to him putting them in a dumbass situation? Taylor bejng blinded by what's funny/exciting only to realise too late he should think before he speaks? Perfect. this is so fucking true to teengehood I feel liek I've been both of them at some point
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Heavy Voice - Diablo 4
I want it out there and on the record that I have known since the first days of the Open Beta that the weird half-dead wolf character was Mephisto. That's a legitimately proud moment I have as a lore enthusiast. The rune carved into his skull was a dead giveaway, appearing in the Book of Adria as a symbol connected to Mephisto. And boy... was it.
I just wanted to make this comic to say that I think Mephisto's voice just doesn't fit in D4. Do not get me wrong, it is an awesome voice, it is powerful, malevolent as all hell, and there is just a soft gurgling undertone to it that brings it all together. Steve Blum is the man! But my guy, I picture a body behind that voice that has actual weight to it. Have you seen Mephisto? He's a literal bone collection, he probably weighs less than a skinny adult human! I am convinced the VA was cast for the wolf, not Mephisto's real appearance. The strangest part is that Mephisto had the perfect voice in the past!
No, not Diablo 2.
Diablo 3! Listen! I have always loved this voice, every time I find this lore entry during a playthrough, I am so happy to listen to him! It's not a weighty voice, it sounds old, which fits because Mephisto is the eldest among all the demons, the Firstborn of Tathamet, basically. And to me it sounds like a cunning evil, especially with his last sentence being "Some battles can only be won with words". Now can a voice like this carry an entire main-entry game with him as the second big bad? A good question, I honestly have no idea. Maybe it really would not work on the long run, but certainly they could have found something closer to this than the Bass King in D4.
Okay but then why do I like Malthael's voice? That's incredibly deep too, and the guy looks like two french fries duck-taped together.
Well, first of all, Malthael is not that skinny actually. He appears so because of his design (which is genius, btw), but if you've tried to learn to draw him well, you realize he has some meat under that armor. I am certain he is what one might call a "sleeper build". Second, it's kind of hard for me to put it into words, but Malthael's voice has an empty echo-y subtone and feel to it that makes it far less weighty in my ears (and also shows just how far he has fallen). I don't know, does that make sense?
Either way, that was my deep dive into the Diablo franchise VA scene, thank you for coming to my TED talk! I still am very much looking forward to Vessel of Hatred, and to finally murder Mephisto once again as well. I don't hate him as much as Lilith, but I am sure he will earn it by the end of the story, whenever that will be.
If you have any voices that you love or hate, share them with me! It's fun!
Other Diablo 4 adventures!
Suck it, Butcher!
A Team to Fight For!
2023.11.11.
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Tatort Saabrücken timeline thoughts (or: DfL was actually time travel)
Okay so this is a mashup of this post with post-KdE musings, because I obviously needed to course correct for KdE.
The whole thing only started making sense when I rewatched everything again before KdE. My hypothesis starts with DfL actually taking place in 2021 (instead of 2020 when it aired).
Okay let's look at a few facts:
Leo says Adam has been gone for 15 years
They were in 11th grade in 2006 per the yearbook in "Der Herr des Waldes" (= 16/17 years old per starting school at 6 or 7 and G8, both of which would have still been true when they were in school, Saarland only switched to G7 in 2003 and they would likely have been on a G8 track already)
The doorman at the Hofer company says he's born in 1955 (just like his car) and that he will retire in a few months
It's clearly spring (Lida is sowing peas and the next episode takes place two months later when it's obviously summer)
By this logic, their lives would look like this:
1990: Adam and Leo are born [I remember grading papers at uni for my freshmen born in 1990, I thought they were so incredibly young then and now 20 year olds never knew a pre 9/11 world, gosh I feel old 😭]
If we're keeping the actors actual birthdays, a few days apart in July (post-Stichtag babies): 1989
2006:
April: Roland Schürk falls into a coma after his...accident, after meeting Lausch in the woods
July/August: Adam and Leo start 11th grade (Adam was in Lausch's Philosphy class and Lausch only started at their school after the summer)
2007: Adam vanishes. My personal guess is sometime in spring/summer when he couldn't take it anymore...but Adam also isn't stupid enough to run in winter.
+15 years is 2022. Which absolutely doesn't work from a timeline perspective, because that would mean "Das Herz der Schlange" takes place shortly after "Der Herr des Waldes" and the whole team is a) too cozy for that in the restaurant, but also b) Roland is healed up and getting a cut Achilles tendon healed up does not happen in a matter of months, c) Roland had had time to plan his ultimate revenge, and d) they're dressed for early summer throughout the episode. I guess it could be early autumn, but I don't actually think so.
Until now, I always thought the writer had simply messed up the timeline and 15 years sounded better than 13 years. The link above assumes that "Das fleißige Lieschen" takes place in 2020, which was the year it aired.
(This is a non-Covid world, simply because in 2019, when it was shot, they couldn't know. So this is where the Tatort universe diverges, since a few Tatort franchises definitely had Covid, e.g., Berlin.)
However, again, I don't think, because: The doorman says he was born 1955 and that he is going to retire shortly.
Regular retirement age for birth year 1955 was 65 years 9 months (because retirement age rises incrementally until it reaches 67 year). It's spring. 1955+65 years 9 months = 2021
Also, a friend pointed out that Konrad Hofer delivered also the files for 2020 (150 years, 75 years for each of them), but those wouldn't be available in 2020, so this must be 2021.
Which means: "Das fleißige Lieschen" and "Der Herr des Waldes" both take place in 2021 and "Das Herz der Schlange" takes place in April or May 2022 and since Adam looks pretty hale in the promo pictures. Alternately, there could be a two-year jump to 2023, but I actially doubt it.
As for "Die Kälte der Erde":
Boris is still in prison
It's set in Mexico (or at least the dog days of summer)
Adam and Esther are bickering (which is actually nice!) but Adam is also still really mad about the SEK, and attrition would likely have taken care of that. there's a limit to how bitter and grudge-y one can be for prolonged periods of time
Plus, where was Adam living for a whole year? If he'd been with Leo, that would be really shitty to move out again after that long a while, and Leo is in far too good a mood at the beginning for that to be an issue
So it seems likely that KdE actually takes place in August 2022 [or 2023 if HdS is also 2023], which would leave sufficient time for Adam to heal up and rehab his fingers and be back in the field. This, of course, means that they weren't shattered but "only" broken [unlikely considering how it had happened, but! Tatort logic, whatever], but eh. If they want to run with it, fine by me.
This still means that the 15 years Adam is supposed to have been gone are an embellishment, but let's be honest, 15 years sounds better than 14.
I wonder if we'll be stuck in 2022 for the rest of time.
So, this leaves us with the following dates:
1990: Adam and Leo are born
If we're keeping the actors actual birthdays, a few days apart in July: 1989
2006:
April: Roland Schürk falls into a coma after his...accident, after meeting Lausch in the woods
July/August: Adam and Leo start 11th grade (Adam was in Lausch's Philosphy class and Lausch only started at their school after the summer)
2007: Adam vanishes. My personal guess is sometime in spring/summer when he couldn't take it anymore...but Adam also isn't stupid enough to run in winter. (Although my friend is right, he would be stupid enough to run in winter if it got too bad.)
2021
March/April [latest time to sow peas]: "Das fleißige Lieschen", Adam returns, Roland wakes up
May/June [two months later]: "Der Herr des Waldes", Roland gets suspicious
2022:
April/May: "Das Herz der Schlange", Roland seemingly gets his revenge on Adam for not becoming the man he wanted him to be
August-ish: "Die Kälte der Erde"
#tatort saarbrücken#timeline#dw crosspost#what a mess this is#could just anything please have a few DATES actually???#made mostly for my own amusement because I need to know#spatort#meta
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I realized all my comparing my own early writing to Filoni's current writing to drag it probably sounds pretty bash-y on that self-indulgent breed of fanfic, and you never know how many younguns are reading your posts and absorbing what you say, so just to clarify:
You write the HELL out of that self-indulgent fanfiction. You make your OC as overpowered as you like, you make your favorite character(s) fall desperately in love with them, you reuse your favorite tropes as many times as you please, you do ALL those things you're not "supposed" to do if you want to do them. You post it (or don't) and block people who are hateful. Because if you wanna be a really good writer someday, you have to start practicing somewhere. And if you don't? Having fun/stress relief/whatever your reason for writing is is just as valid.
Was my writing when I was a kid bad? Yes, in a technical sense. I probably committed every writing sin there is. But it was so important for my mental health. Every day after navigating school and peers I got to go home and write a character who happens to look like me and like everything I like be the coolest Jedi or Dunadan or whatever and adored by all the characters I loved, and that was important. And I got better! I always wanted to be a good writer in the technical sense and I've come a long way, and that's a good thing. But I also just had fun with it, and that's a good thing too. I still have a lot of saved art of those old "Mary Sue" self-indulgent OCs and they're still special to me. (Some have even been retooled into better-written characters - but again that's about the fun of writing and creating characters, doesn't mean either version is inherently more or less in value to me.)
Just, if you ever get to be the creative director of a huge beloved franchise, make sure you know how to write well. If I'm paying for it, self-indulgent OC fanfiction does not cut it, Feloni.
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DLC TALK HERE!! No spoilers till under the cut tho.
SO!!!
While I said that the new chapter of the fic is FINALLY coming this week(or veery early next week) after having to write it, scrapping parts and doing a bit of a rework and a rewrite as well...
What I really wanna say is. I had the fortune of being able to play the DLC myself right on release instead of watching a letsplay as my first impression, which would be a first when it comes to FNAF! YAY!!
I just finished playing through it finally(still missing the tird ending tho), and my mind is a scramble trying to make sense and assemble puzzle pieces on a sleepy brain. Without going into detail, I feel like it neither confirmed NOR denied any of my personal fears on it and it just leaves me in a picky spot of observations, assessments, ideas, hypothetical possibilities of explanations that could go either here or there...
In other words, I enjoyed it, I had a lot of fun despite all my reservations, but story-wise(and as a person not the fondest of book lore or a couple fan theories) I'm in not even sure how to sort my feelings appropriately xD
In any case thankfully it didn't make me change my opinion on lil Gregs to be quite frank, tho he does have me thinking him over more now.
Now a lil more detail under the cut, with SPOILERS this time!!! Still not too much tho.
First, Eclipse had me FREAKING jfnjngrde I did NOT expect to see him there, that caught me SO off-guard.
Second, the V.A.N.N.I. thing still has me curious, but damn i loved that visually tho. Happy to see a Helpy in some shape way or form. With an "i" instead of "y" lol
Then there's Roxy. Though she's not my fave, I still love her to bits, so I was SO VERY HAPPY to see the way she was treated in the DLC. The bond with Cassie was just so qwq
Then oh god, the headless Freddy thing... At first I was abt to get sad abt it. Then I was like, what he doin in Fazer Blast if this is the Burntrap ending. And then I read the word "prototype" on his foot and was like, ooooh. Okay xD
I do wonder how our good old Fred is doing tho, hope he's fine, since we didn't actually see a hint of him in the game. And on the same note as that is Vanessa of course.
Okay next is the whole thing with the comic panels. Not rly a fan of basically saying all the other endings except one are less of an alternative timeline type of thing and more of, well, fiction, kinda as a much smaller extension of my pet peeve of "it was all a dream/fiction/whatever" but oh well. Don't think it's gonna stop anyone tho, least of all me.
Curious about the one that had two Gregory's in it(I know it's one of the ending panels but like, interesting choice of a panel there xD) but I suppose it could be a bit of a thing hinting to the fact that there ARE kinda two, "Gregory" guiding us being a sham
The whole thing with Gregory supposedly being stuck or trapped reeked of suspicious way before any of the Mimic stuff became known to me, since way back when I first saw the poster. Him guiding Cassie to Roxy Raceway in the game I was guarded on it the whole game, even just the littlest things like a weird and unnatural-sounding tone on a word or two and the everything... Doesn't take a genius is what am sayin. So my bestie who had to tolerate watching me play and ramble on about what i think may be happening being my witness, the reveal was an "i knew it" moment
Then post reveal when he says he's not even in the Plex anymore, there's a small part of me that is like "but what if it's also a fluke" still but under the assumption he IS the real one... He said "we" and "us" and there was someone with him, wonder if it's Fred or nah... Honestly never sure abt anything with this franchise and I'm not a big lore person or a theorist either.
And the whole betrayal thing... Not saying what he did is right, but considering the threat of the Mimic I can't really entirely blame him either. If it's genuinely him and him in his right mind (we don't talk abt ggy here thanks), and even if it's not the case, I can already smell people hating on a child cuz of a decision like they like to do
Is prolly not all and not best formed by am not home, my laptop is on 9%, my phone is not logged into tumblr and I didn't take my passwords here, soooo.... Thank you for coming to my ramblings if anyone actually read this lmao! Just needed to get these raw thoughts outta my system before going to bed.
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It All Comes Back to Haunt You (Part 3)
@glitchysquidd
(I am sorry, but the next chapter of Into the Breach will come next I swear… This will highlight some obvious plot-holes, include more characters, and other things… Aight let’s make shit hit the fucking fan.)
It was the first shift for her since Tim and Samantha hired her on. Rebecca was too worried to focus on work right now. Henry and Micheal had been…too okay…with the concept of her father being here. They were quiet. They were planning something, but what? Obviously the fire thing never happened, because she pointed out other innocent people were probably going to be in the building, but what else could they be thinking—
“Hey, kid, can I talk to you for a sec?”
The employee she had become fast friends with snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Sure, uh…” The teen mumbled, “Where’s Dave?”
“Uh. Fucking around somewhere, I dunno.”
“Okay…? W-what do you want to tal—“
“So… You are Rebecca Afton, right?”
She was taken aback by the question, but nodded slowly. It was a bad idea to trust this person with such information, but after keeping quiet for so long, Rebecca’s need for connection outweighed her sense of self preservation by a hair.
“I was up last night thinking, reviewing the true crime podcast… It just doesn’t line up.” Her coworker paused, “Not that I think you’re lying or anything since you look just like the kid they showed but…”
“Y-Yes…?” She was becoming more fearful with every second of silence.
“Your dad tried to kill you in like…1986… It’s 2023…” They stopped for a moment to double check their head math, “Forget calculating your actual age. You should be way older. How the hell do you look so…so…young?”
That was a very fair question, and she was honestly surprised how long it took even her father to do the fucking math here. He clearly knew what year it was, yet he didn’t comment on her supernaturally youthful appearance at all. Rebecca figured it wasn’t a detail he was analyzing right now. She realized she could only shrug in response to the inquiry…
“Yeah, I…I have no idea why I seem to be aging so…slowly…” The young looking woman admitted, “I was hoping to ask Charlie, but it is taking me a while to fix—“
“Who?”
“Oh, uh… Charlotte. She’s Henry Emily’s daughter… like the ring leader of the ghosts.” Rebecca said this far too casually, mixing flavoring into her water, “Yeah, she’s chill… Just—understandably protective of the others…”
“Sure, right… Then also… What happened to your dad? Do you even know?” Her coworker frowned, “Dave is in the springlock suit now so clearly whatever happened on the night he tried to off you didn’t like—kill him—“
Damn. They really are “balls deep in denial” as Micheal put it. Yet they seemed head over heels for her dad. She guessed pining for a serial killer grants amazing cognitive dissonance…
“Yeah…” Her voice trailed off, “Not sure on that one… Just glad it was over…”
“Sorry. Am I prying too much?”
“No, no… You aren’t the first. My whole upteenth highschool class found out and none of those idiots did the math… Those who did just think I’m a liar.” She laughed nervously, “I’m just… thinking about something myself…”
“Wait wait wait. How many times have you had to go through highschool?! That sounds like hell—“
“It is. Still look too young for college… But if we don’t want to be investigated I have to keep acting at the age I look…” She rolled her eyes, “Though the state aren’t competent enough to notice the same person going through their school system every other four years…”
“What if you stop faking and tell—“
“I end up in a government facility most likely…” She answered bluntly.
Her coworker snorted.
“It is a genuine fear of mine, really. It’s why Michael and I have to come back whenever a new thing related to the franchise pops up. If people knew the full truth…” She paused, “I bet even the ghosts in the suits would be in the same boat as me then…”
“…Oh.”
“Man… I’ve never told anyone this shit before… This feels…like a weight is off my shoulders…”
“You’ve been that isolated… Unable to tell the truth to anyone…For 30 years…?!”
“Yep. Just myself, Micheal, and…”
Rebecca stopped herself. Mikey was already pissed about the amount of information they had to disclose to this person due to the sheer fact “Dave” was in the equation. As much as she wanted to let it out, she’d get in trouble for mentioning another huge name for the brand.
“Sorry, I’m prone to oversharing…”
———
“Ms.Clair, I know you’re about to leave, but have you seen Mi—“
Rebecca grabbed from behind, making her panic on reflex, letting out a very childlike noise despite her biting her lips.
“Jason!” Clair scolded.
“What? I needed to get through the doorway.” Jason smirked at her, “Are you gonna come around here often or—“
“Yes… I-I work here?” Rebecca was autistic and oblivious to any sort of flirting. It seemed Jason was taking that as a bit of a challenge.
“Well, you like making it difficult, huh?”
“Making what difficult?” She was more confused than offended or creeped out, “W-was I really that much in the way? S-sorry—“
“It’s so easy to make you apologize.” Jason snickered, “It’s really cute how you get all flustered…”
The sound of inexplicable metal hitting the door made Jason jump.
“SHITSHITSHIT—“
He turned around, sighing in relief when Springtrap wasn’t standing behind him. It was just that guy with the weird skin condition holding a spare part.
“Man, don’t fucking scare me like that.” The shorter man growled, “Can’t you see we’re having a conversation?!”
“Oh? Want to try doing something about it?” Micheal asked with a threateningly casual tone that was eerily identical to Springtrap’s.
“Whatever. I’m fucking out of here.” Jason huffed, giving the younger figure one last concerned glance. “Good luck with that thing.”
“Bye…I guess?” Rebecca blinked as Jason and Clair left, before turning to her brother, “Mike, where have you been? It’s been an hour.”
“Oh, I was just on the phone.”
“For an hour?!”
“Had to deal with some things after the call.”
“What things?”
“Things.”
“Ugh! Stop being difficult—“
“No.” Her brother chuckled, messing up her hair, “You do realize that man was hitting on you, right?”
“Hold on. He was WHAT?!”
“There you two are.” Their coworker smiled, “I finally found Dave in his room, and I see you found—“
Rebecca punched her brother in the chest repeatedly, as he started horse-playing with her, leading her to giggle, “H-hey! Let go—“
“Nope… Sibling privilege.” Micheal had her in a headlock, finally letting her go as she managed to get a good hit on him, “Fuck—!”
“Ha!”
“Below the belt? Really?” He smirked.
“It’s not like you have anything valuable down there!” She snapped back, getting too caught up in playing with her brother to notice who just entered the establishment.
“Oh jeez… Would you crazy kids stop wrestling each other on the clock?”
Rebecca lost all of the color in her face hearing that voice. No. No no no. Henry was here?! But her father was here?! Oh shit… This was going to end so…so badly. What was Michael thinking?!
“Your hair’s all over the place, kiddo.” The man walked over and fixed it for her, as well as straightening her shirt, “There! Now if only your brother would stop messing it all up…”
“Heh… No promises.”
Unseen by everyone, Springtrap watched from the farthest end of the hallway Micheal had come from. He was absolutely seething. William had no idea that Rebecca ended up being taken in by Henry after his death. Seeing his former business partner fix his daughter’s hair in such a fatherly manner while she clearly seemed embarrassed by it was enough to make him want to strangle him. That bastard, that hypocrite.
Taking in his child after banishing him from his own company, stealing his work, and leaving him without a way to feed that same child and her older siblings back in the 80’s? Just who did Henry think he was?! Some savior?!
“Uh… Who is this?”
His daughter looked terrified as her coworker spoke up, but her expression turned to one of horrific dread as she noticed her father’s figure lurking at the end of the other hall.
“Oh, where are my manners?” The old man chuckled, patting Michael on the shoulder, “My name is Henry Emily. It’s a pleasure to—“
Rebecca couldn’t leave fast enough, passing her father on the way and dodging his attempt to stop her. Nope. No way. Not today. Not ever. She locked herself in the back room, prepared for all hell to break lose.
“My dad’s here isn’t he?” Charlie’s spirit asked, frowning sympathetically as the woman curled up against the wall just nodded.
“Stay in here… The others and I can try to scare him out…”
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My Unpopular Opinions on Monster High
I got the inspo from @/mad._.dollz on Tik Tok and Instagram, who does a series of a similar name, and I thought I'd share some of mine (some of you might feel the same too). Please be respectful of the following, for these are my opinions on some of the stuff!
Gil Webber is not and never was a bad romantic match for Lagoona (I'm just tired of people complaining, and the guy had racist parents. Of course, there are some things he felt uncertain about, but Gil genuinely cared about Lagoona and making her happy mattered to him!)
Toralei is NOT a villain! Is she an antagonist due to her bullying? Yes. But a villain? No. She never did anything that jeopardized the monsters' lives (and consider the times she's been nice to them too!)
Lagoona is 100% allowed to have glamorous looks/outfits, even if she's more known for her sporty style/personality (ex: Dawn of the Dance, which is widely a fan favorite Lagoona doll)
C.A. Cupid deserved more time (and dolls) at Monster High. Nothing bad about her Ever After High transfer, but I just wish we had more character background/development of Cupid before she moved schools.
Jackson x Clair is a pairing/ship that makes no sense to me (they had very little interactions, and her kissing Jackson at the end of Ghouls Rule! always bothered me) And I'm not saying all this because I prefer Jackson x Frankie.
Gen 2 had a lot of good elements in it (read this post here for most to all the stuff I liked from the first reboot)
Boo York, Boo York was a somewhat underwhelming film of the franchise. Sure, I liked the main plots, but several characters weren't utilized well enough, some of the subplots felt a bit sloppy, and one subplot was completely scrapped, and I would've loved to see how that played out.
Ari Hauntington is actually a pretty good character (premise wise). I didn't feel like she was a full-on Spectra replacement, but I like how she's a pop star and can make herself appear solid.
I preferred Venus and Rochelle's voices in Gen 2 over Gen 1. I felt like Venus' G2 voice fit her character more, and I personally just like how sweet-sounding Rochelle's G2 voice was more than her Gen 1 voice.
Lagoona having a different skin color other than blue is completely valid. Yes, her last name is Blue, but if you recall in the past, not all of Lagoona's family members had blue skin. A notable example is her little sister Kelpie, who has purple skin.
I like that Clawdia's dolls had a sculpted grin as opposed to the other characters having a neutral looking expression. It really reflected the type of personality she had, which makes her a very unique doll.
The werewolf dolls of Gen 1 (like Clawdeen) should've had sculpted fur on the wrists and ankles like the Gen 2 dolls. It was mentioned that the characters are confirmed to have fur, and it would've been nice to see it on their dolls (Mouscedes and Marisol were the only Gen 1 dolls I can think of that had sculpted fur)
Mouscedes' doll was actually very cute. She was one of my favorites out of the Boo York characters, and I wish she had more love from the fans.
G1 Spectra's voice should sound a bit different/normal considering all the other ghost characters don't talk the same way she does. Don't get me wrong, the voice itself is fine, but knowing Spectra was the only ghost character to have a whisper-y and "ooOOOoooO" voice while the rest didn't talk that way felt VERY off-putting.
That's pretty much all I have for now. Should I continue posting my unpopular opinions based on different fandoms I'm in? Let me know!
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Jennifer Lawrence Done with Franchises Reflects on Loss of Control
Jennifer Lawrence Done with Franchises, Reflects on Loss of Control
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Jennifer Lawrence is getting back to her indie roots — not so much because she has to, but wants to … as it appears going mainstream in Hollywood has taken its toll on her.
The A-lister is in London plugging her latest flick, “Causeway,” which sees her taking on a very quiet, dramatic role … playing a U.S. soldier with PTSD and getting acclimated to regular life again. It’s drastically different than anything she’s done in recent years.
Official Trailer – Causeway
Two unlikely strangers find solace in newfound friendship as they navigate their journey from grief to healing.
Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry star in #Causeway, in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+ November 4.https://t.co/MmqiuUGmAJ pic.twitter.com/bRuDUlyScL
— Apple TV+ (@AppleTVPlus) October 6, 2022 @AppleTVPlus
What we mean, of course, is that this isn’t a major blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination — it’s an A24 film, with a way smaller budget and limited release via Apple.
Beyond just that, though, this is territory that JLaw hasn’t ventured into in a while. Fact is, she’s been one of the industry’s highest-paid actresses for quite a while now … which, of course, is due to her starring in major franchises like ‘X-Men’ and ‘The Hunger Games.’
Jennifer Lawrence: I Felt a Loss of Control After ‘The Hunger Games’ Came Out https://t.co/50JQc6W6Ao
— Variety (@Variety) October 8, 2022 @Variety
Her Academy Award for Best Actress — for her lead role in “Silver Linings Playbook” — also shot her into a new stratosphere … making her one of the most desirable hires in the biz.
As it turns out … Jen is actually looking back on all that with a fresh perspective — this on the heels of giving birth to a baby, and getting hitched. During a staged sit-down Saturday, Jen was quoted as feeling a sense of instability after achieving the pinnacle of acting fame.
Jennifer Lawrence says she can’t do franchises anymore:
“I loved superhero movies. Franchise is art and they’re so fun; I could never do one now because I’m too old & brittle. I love them too. This generation understandably likes a world to escape to, and I can relate to that.” pic.twitter.com/6Ukaruzlso
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) October 8, 2022 @FilmUpdates
Per Variety, she said … “I think I lost a sense of control. Between ‘The Hunger Games’ coming out and winning the Oscar, I became such a commodity that I felt like every decision was a big, big group decision. When I reflect now, I can’t think of those following years, [because there was] just a loss of control.”
There’s another quote floating around that’s being attributed to JL — and it touches on her future in movies … which seems to swear off doing anymore big-time popcorn films.
Jen reportedly said during this same chat, “I loved superhero movies. Franchise is art and they’re so fun; I could never do one now because I’m too old and brittle. I love them too. This generation understandably likes a world to escape to, and I can relate to that.”
That’s pretty interesting. It sounds like she’s going to be far more selective with the projects she signs onto going forward — which could mean more Oscar-bait-y flicks like “Causeway.”
The wild part … JLaw is only 32 years old! At this young age, she’s already been to the mountaintop and seems kinda over it. Jen says her next chapter will also include producing … not to mention starting her own production company. Going the way of Brad Pitt, eh?
The post Jennifer Lawrence Done with Franchises, Reflects on Loss of Control first appeared on Suave Media.
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October 08, 2022 at 09:24PM
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mega man an iconic staple of gaming right up there with Mario pac man in terms of iconic 8bit iconography the classic faction of the series (talking about anything else would probably take us WAY off course lol) revolves around the many battles of Dr wily taking control of or recruiting 8 or so robot masters for the evil plot of taking over the world only to then be inevitably be thwarted by mega man utilising the ability's of the robot masters he beat along the way
the classic iterations of the mega man games have always been light on plot, while outside media has given some alternate media and expansion to the games they aren’t the main focus of this blog, maybe another time, either way the stories simplicity are partly a result of the limitations of the era specifically the games made on the NES I mean most of the actual plot of these games were either stuck to the opening title or in the actual manual of the game cause the cartridges simply did not have room for exposition and while the hardware of the series improved the classic stories still remained relatively light hearted and simple “doctor wily is doing X or Y evil plot which can only be solved by beating a group of new robot masters go stop him” like it’s a very video game plot if that makes sense it’s contextual set up to get to the gameplay, and has for this branch of the franchise kept to that stance on how it handles it’s narratives.
the gameplay of picking one of the 8 robot masters to choose from in any order was a pretty amazing amount of freedom for an NES game to grant you to play the game in any order and has been a staple of the franchise ever since, as well as that the game has kept true to it’s theme of each level having a theme correlating to the robot master, you’d think they’d run out of themes for robot masters at some point and while they’ve sometimes been a bit too similar and the mere existence of a robot who’s whole theme is just “wood” is hysterical to me for some reason like look at this dudes he’s literally just a log man.
but otherwise I have to give the series accolades for making so many designs and themes for boss characters and still managing to not have too much crossover with older ideas
my game ideas concept do have quite few mega man esc aspects to them that have inspired this blog post, that being that my game revolves around the idea of going to multiple different themed worlds and the boss is also based around that theme sounds very similar to the level structure of the mega man levels however mine will have take some more inspiration from newer 2D titles like hollow knight and have the worlds be far more open and Metroidvania esc with it’s design and abilities, compared to mega mans more arcade and linear design philosophies that it’s series has been built upon, but yeah looking at some of these designs might help me have my future designs further relate to themes of each world better.
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(Gary anon) And considering how many subsections of Pokemon exist, clashing of opinions isn't limited to just the main series' numbered gens or mechanics. (In some ways, it does make it 'easier' to stay a corner than constantly being thrust into the equivalent of town square like more niche franchises. We can all be happy about a new gen, and then quickly go back to our spaces until more news) Something that gives the fandom some fuel to play with, but without the sense of egotism and
.
(Part 2) entitlement. Though I do wonder what would resonate more, Adult Ash's design or his voice? (Plus a whole new protagonist would allow them to do different things they couldn't really do with Ash, despite the many barriers he broke. It'd take time, but with the right care, they can make their own legacy) Definitely not against more Chronicle-like episodes, it's just Gary in particular I don't see being a upfront mainstay. Works better in short bursts.
(Part3) (I'd love more Ash/Gary interactions, but stuff like Oak, Tracey, Dawn, Goh and Project Mew were a nice way to give him more sides. Him staying with the same group that has one goal for too long kinda hinders that, imo) Since they have a history, Goh and Tokio deciding to be a traveling duo would be a good endgame for both. Whether they stay with Project Mew or go on their own. (If what I'm hearing is true, and it seems like it, Alain is about to fed to a shark instead)
(Part 4) Giving it some thought for a long while, I get why they did this to avoid redundancy. No repeat final matchups. (It really just depends on long the PWC is, I doubt the Mew search will be as long) It is the only battle format they never fought in, I just don't know if it will stand out other than just being them battling again. (As we discussed, a 1v1 after possibly winning the PWC would leave a bad taste in the mouth to the fandom if Gary slams Ash a 3rd time after a big win like this)
(Part 5) (And even if it were Blastoise/Umbreon vs Pikachu, Ash winning really wouldn't mean much with this current win streak) Since it's been 20 years since that Johto fight, it'd be nice if they had a climax that felt more "them" than another game reference.(Ending JN with Ash's first rival just seems symbolic. With a tie to show they still got work to do) But for a 6v6, we'd need 2.5-3 episodes at best. (Yeah, it was 4 technically. Unless you want to count the Arcanine/Bayleef race as a 5th)
Yeah.
It does make things easier in some ways, yeah. And I honestly do my best to ignore what 90% of the fandom is saying anyway, I only really care what my friends and mutuals think about anything.
Yeah. I wonder, would they recast for an older Ash? Or would the current VAs still do it? I can't imagine Rica Matsumoto being removed from a role she's done for 25 years (and I've heard recasting a character while their current VA is alive is considered an insult in Japan). (And while I have... Opinions about Sarah Natochenny, I think her voice acting is fine and her Ash, particularly back in Battle Frontier and DP, sounded older anyway.)
True. While parting with Ash would hurt, a new protagonist with a different personality could have their own path to take things in a new direction.
Fair. While he may spend some time with the Project Mew team, I fully expect him to eventually go his own way, like he parted with the research teams he worked with on Sayda and in Sinnoh.
Yeah, Goh and Tokio ending up traveling together would be a good way for them to depart when Journeys draws to a close.
Oh, well RIP Alain then I guess. XY fandom might not be too pleased about that but I'm fine with it, I never saw XY so I can't say I cared too much about him in the first place.
Yeah, fair. Avoiding redundancy is good.
Yeah, I suppose so. Guess we'll see how it goes.
If a 3v3 is the best we can hope for at this point, it's what I'll hope for for sure. I feel like it'd be enough to stand out by virtue of being the first real battle between them in so many years.
Yeah, very much agreeing with that. A battle that's distinctly them, Ash facing his first rival again, would be the perfect way to conclude Journeys. Journeys had so many callbacks, why not come full circle? And a draw would be the best way for it to end--they still have plenty to learn on their respective paths.
Good to know I didn't forget any, then! But wow, they really only battled four times and one was just basically just the first battle from Pokemon Yellow. Here's to them getting to battle a fifth time!
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Ok, so here are my thoughts on the no-touching situation between Zendaya and Timothee during Dune promo :
(1) that it was a direction from the DUNE team : by which i mean the marketing team, the director, the studio etc. (Seems like I'm saying something obvious but i have read speculations that Marvel might have put contractual restrictions on Zendaya and that sounds unlikely to me)
(2) if Zendaya and Tim took pics in vaguely coupley poses then it wd set up certain expectations and the Dune team wanted to make sure audiences did not get that idea in their head and quashed any expectation of a romantic storyline
(3) as it is many people were pissed off that there wasnt enough of Zendaya. The disappointment in her short screen time wd hv been much more if they had not managed audience expectations.
(4) they also wanted Zendaya's role to stay mysterious for the film-goers. Her standing by herself in pics "sells" the mysterious dream girl better
(5) also, Denis clearly wanted Paul to feel uncertain about Chani - whether she's friend, foe, or whatever - and for us to feel that with him, the audiences needed to not see them being couple-y.
(6) Chani isnt just a Fremen, she represents all Fremen. She is a symbol. It was crucial to the world building of the Arrakis/Dune that she is seen as such. She is our way of empathising with the Fremen. If the promo dwelled on her as someone's potential love interest then u wd see her in a very limited way. She had to be more than just what she could be in relation to Paul; more than a woman, or even Paul's woman. And its sad but true that women in films do get defined thru their relationship to the male characters. And I think Denis wanted to make sure Chani wasnt thought of in these terms from this promo. She's a leader in training, just like Paul: she's a queen not his queen, if you see what i mean.
(7) I think it's very appropriate for the person who represents Fremen to not be seen too chummy with the new rulers of Dune. I believe Denis felt it was important we see people from Caladan and Dune as separate 'houses'/ clans/ tribes/ people/ etc. Especially in this film's promo, where the story is just taking off and people had a lot of things to assimilate and remember.
(8) and that's another thing. The Dune team clearly saw this as the beginning of a franchise. They knew promo pics with couple-y poses could be ammunition for future films & and wisely didnt use their whole arsenal. Their priority was for people to get to know Chani as her own person, form a Chani fanbase, get them to want her own toy, play as Chani in role playing games. If she was introduced as Paul's dream girl then people wouldnt get as invested and Chani as well as the whole world of Dune wouldnt generate as much interest/ money.
(9) and when you get down to the bottom line Chani and Paul are not a couple and it would be misleading to suggest that. Yes there's a hint of a future romance between Paul and Chani (in the dreams and visions) but they wanted to keep that out of the waking world of Paul and Chani, as well as the promo, to solidify the worlds they were building. As Chani herself says, This is just the beginning
Tldr : for reasons of artistic integrity & making more money it made sense for them to exude this air of regal dignity and detachment
#dune 2020#dune film#dune#paul atredies#chani#pani#zendaya#timothee chalamet#timothée chalamet#denis villeneuve#oscar isaac#rebecca ferguson#tomdaya#timdaya#marketing#duncan idaho
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BILLY — Kim Taehyung (3)
Synopsis: News of a Sadistic Serial Killer nicknamed “Jigsaw” is spreading around town like wildfire… the nickname stemming from the puzzle piece he cuts from every victim’s body. No one knows who he’ll trap next but in a town full of delinquents and criminals, it could never be you. Right?
Pairing: yandere!Taehyung x f!reader
genre: angst, horror, weirdly some fluff lol
Warnings: dark themes, yandere, stalking, manipulation, conditioning, mentions of abuse, suicidal ideations/attempts, self harm, murder, depictions of torture etc (basically its gorey and fucked up), angel trap, etc stabbing and guns. do not read if triggered!!!!
wordcount: 2.2k
taglist: @yes-sol-not-soul @yoongiofmine
a/n: pt 3 is here!! honestly i wasnt expecting this amount of support as i’ve never published my writing before so thank u sm ♡ i was inspired to write this one night and i had no idea where it’d go or anything but i’m happy with the way its turning out :D fun fact abt me, i’ve been obsessed w the franchise since i was little and i actually have 2 saw tattoos, one of billy and one above saying “cherish your life” since that’s pretty much the motto of saw :) and i have quite the collection of saw/billy items so why not turn my fav horror film into a fucked up love story! let me know if u would like to be added to the taglist and pls enjoy reading^^ feel free to send me asks abt the series or anything u want~ i love hearing from u guys!! :D ps— taehyung and the reader dont have much interaction in this part,, theyll definitely be more of them together in part 4 :) unedited so pls excuse any mistakes!! tysm <33 and remember these are fictional characters and do not represent bts personally in any way!!
series masterlist
part one part two
The headlines constantly named the Jigsaw Killer, Billy. The somewhat eerie little doll that had a face as white as a Calla Lily with spirals on it’s cheeks as red as the blood that was shed during the tests. Billy was always dressed in a little black suit with a red bowtie and he was (most of the time) situated on a squeaky battered tricycle. Attached was always a tape that read “play me” and when the subjects did, a chilling voice— one that could make even the world's worst predators shiver with terror— would echo around the room.
Everyone knew that a doll clearly wasn’t responsible, yet they gave it the name Billy in hopes to somewhat humanise the face that instilled panic— they did not want to live in fear.
It was the only face behind the killings.
But this time, there was a different subject stuck in the test and Billy had made sure there was no way for them to survive.
“How are you scared of heights? You’re practically a giant yourself!”
“Just because I’m tall doesn’t mean I can’t be scared of heights Y/Nie.”
You had no idea how long had passed since Taehyung had turned up at the garage, you were too busy chatting away squeezed into the kitchen while your Dad, Yoongi and Hobi worked on the cars in the shop. If anyone could hear you both, they would think you’d known eachother since childhood— the playful jokes and light touches exaggerated that.
You’d only known him for a few hours really, if you added the time spent with him on the first day and now. It hadn’t seemed like all those weeks ago that you first met, he had a familiar presence, as though you had known him for years compared to the hours.
“I just wouldn’t imagine you to be scared of anything Taehyung… you seem so confident and fearless.”
You saw the way Taehyung looked at you. His eyes flashed with understanding.
“I did have my fears back then, much like yours.”
“What do you mean?” you had a rough idea on what he meant but you needed him to voice it.
A deep inhale and the words flowed from his lips before he could stop it, “The fear of living. I had been through some stuff you know, growing up. My mum was working a lot and my dad was an alcoholic, he was so fucking possessive and wouldn’t let her go anywhere without kicking off. It was a fucking shitshow and so toxic. This one time though, I’d pretended that I’d gone to school and waited outside the front door. It didn’t take long before I heard shit getting smashed and my dad shouting.” Taehyung was telling the truth only, he left out the part where he was also as possessive, if not more, than his father. Well, let's say… obsessive. “I just ran in the house and saw my dad towering over my mum and I don’t remember what happened but, I do remember my mum crying and my dad disappeared.”
Now Taehyung was lying through his teeth. He remembered clearly, almost like it was yesterday. He smashed the nearest bottle, pulled his mother away from the monster that scared her and stabbed him. Not just once, not twice but thirty-seven times. Hence the thirty seven tattoo on the palm of his right hand (the one he’d actually killed his father with). There was only Taehyung who knew what it meant, he counted every single time the broken glass pierced his father’s body, he counted with a smile on his face and a chuckle in his throat.
You were at a loss for words. Your mouth gaped in shock, eyes wide and your brain scrambled for the right thing to say. You reached over and grabbed his hand, interlacing your fingers. His thumb running back and forth along your hand. “I’m sorry, I can’t imagine what that must’ve been like.” There was no way you could relate, your mother and father were happy and in love. They had the ideal relationship, one you wished for yourself. You could empathise though.
“You don’t need to be sorry baby, it’s in the past and I’ve moved on from it. I was like you though, poisoned by the roots that keep you on the ground even though you wanted nothing more than to break free and be no longer.” A silence fell over you both before Taehyung uttered, “I wasn’t successful with my attempt so now I’m here to help you.”
Warmth spread throughout your body, a smile graced your features as you no longer felt alone.
You had a completely different idea to what those words actually meant.
It was nearing the evening when Taehyung’s car had been fixed. Yoongi popped his head in the kitchen to tell him but stopped himself so as to not interrupt the scene before him. You were laughing along to whatever Taehyung was babbling about with your hand resting on his bicep, with that look in your eyes that he hadn’t seen for years. Yoongi felt himself smile as he saw you hanging onto Taehyung's every word.
For the first time in forever, you looked alive.
Yoongi cleared his throat which drew yours and Taehyung’s attention, “Sorry to interrupt guys. We’ve finished with your car so whenever you’re ready we’ll be outside.” The infamous gummy smile overtook his features, you felt yourself beam in return.
“Thanks man! I’ll be like, five minutes.”
Yoongi nodded his head in reply and swiftly left the room.
You’d taken Tae’s hand into yours, playing with the array of rings that occupied his fingers. Solemn thoughts overtook, am I not gonna see him again? Was this, whatever this is, over before it had even begun? Your eyes stayed on his hand as you turned it over and traced your finger over the inked ‘thirty seven’ on his palm. “What does this mean?”
Taehyung didn’t think twice before he practically beamed out, “It’s my lucky number.”
The difference was, it wasn’t really his lucky number… although he did see it that way. It was the number that had stayed with him. It was something he was proud of, whenever he looked at the hand that killed his father, his chest filled with pride and a joyous feeling overtook his senses. It was his first murder. Something he relished in and thus, created the onslaught of Jigsaw killings. He targeted a certain type— those whose sins would lock them up forever if they were ever found out. Racists, murderers, rapists, drug dealers, con-men. Authoritative figures who abused their power. He even went as far as subjecting suicidal people.
You see, things aren’t sequential. Good doesn’t lead to good, nor bad to bad. People who steal, don’t get caught, they live the good life. Others lie, cheat and get elected.
Some people would call it karma but Taehyung, he called it justice.
He’d started this with one thing on his mind— those that don’t appreciate life do not deserve it.
Whenever a serial killer was on the loose, the press did what they always did. They gave them a nickname. While the public had named the doll Billy. The actual killer was named ‘Jigsaw’.
This stemmed from the jigsaw piece that was cut from the victims skin, no one knew why he was doing it or what it even stood for.
It did have a meaning although unknown to the public.
The jigsaw piece that was cut from the subjects was only ever meant to be a symbol that that subject was missing something. A vital piece of the human puzzle. The survival instinct.
After all, until a person is faced with death, it’s impossible to tell whether they have what it takes to survive.
Across town an underground abandoned warehouse, was where the next subject had found themselves.
They were suspended in the air, their feet merely dangling above the ground. The putrid smell of death lingered in every crevice, the sound of rats scurrying along the concrete floor filled their ears just as they began to stir awake.
A pain in their ribs was the overwhelming factor to them finally coming around. When they groggily opened their eyes, they were paralised with fear due to the scene in front of them.
A doll sat a few feet ahead, perched upon a tricycle. Adorned with a black suit and a red bowtie. A slow red light flashed in his eyes.
Billy.
Before the subject could even register how, when or why they found themselves trapped in a test, footsteps echoed behind them. The subject called out, “Help! Please, somebody help! I shouldn’t be here!”
A tsk reached their ears, as a disembodied voice replied, “Trust me, no one can hear you. Scream all you like. You’d just be wasting your breath, you may as well cherish it before it's gone.”
With hairs stood on end, the subject stilled. “What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want anything from you.” The man's footsteps grew louder. “I’m here to serve justice, that’s all.”
The man rounded the subject, settling in their view with only his cloaked back visible while he tended to the little doll. He touched Billy delicately—like he was a little child that he loved dearly. He combed his gloved hand through the doll's black hair and eventually pulled his fingers from the tresses to pat his head gently.
“You fucking psycho! Let me go!”
He couldn’t help but laugh at that which only infuriated the subject more causing them to shake in anger, a movement they soon ceased when they realised something was penetrating their ribs.
“I’d be very careful if I was you, we wouldn’t want you hurting yourself now… would we?” The cloaked figure spun around. An angry glint to his eye.
“What the fuck, you’re fucking crazy. Let me out, this isn’t right!” The subject tried their hardest to swing their legs, to somehow kick the man who’d imprisoned them.
“I think you’ll find it is right. You’re unworthy of the body you possess.” He inched closer, “see, when someone purposely intends to harm others, they lose their right to life.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
The man arched a brow as he replied, “Don’t play dumb. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He felt like it was a game of cat and mouse except, he was a tiger and his subject, was the tiniest prey to mankind. “But, let me remind you! Since you can’t get your thick fucking head to work. You’re a liar, a cheater and an abuser. That ring any bells?”
The subject's face dropped.
“Ah, I see by your expression you know exactly what I’m talking about! Glad to see we’re on the same page.” He shrugged his cloak off placing it to the side of the doll. “I want to play a game.”
“What game? This isn’t a fucking game! You’re sick in the head you fucking cunt!”
The atmosphere shifted, the man remained calm while the subject went ballistic.
“What is this? What fucking game?”
“You feel the machine that’s currently occupying your ribs? Well, in about ten minutes that’s going to rip you apart. I’m proud to say that trap is my baby. I’ve been working on it especially for you! How nice is that?” he reached out to tug at the subject’s legs, tormenting them like a cat would a mouse. “Anyway, as my beautiful angel trap will rip you apart, my darling little friend Billy over here,” the subject followed the direction the man's hand pointed, “is going to match your face with the ugliness of your soul.”
“Fuck, fuck this! How do I stop it? Tell me how I fucking stop it!”
A boxy grin overtook the man's face, laughter poured from his mouth as he leaned over and slapped the subject’s leg. “This is a special game.”
“Who are you? What do you mean by ‘special game’?”
He raised himself so he stood tall and grabbed a knife from his pocket, “I’m the man you call Jigsaw.” He traced the tip of the knife along the subject’s ankle, “and when I say a special game… I mean you can’t get out.” While the subject was screaming in realisation, Taehyung walked back for his cloak, hung it over his shoulder and stalked off back the way he came. He sent one last smile to the subject as he rounded them and within the blink of an eye, he gripped the knife and slashed the subject’s achilles.
A chilling scream pierced the eerie atmosphere, the subject couldn’t string words together. Abundances of anxiety, terror and pure panic took reign of their body. Taehyung grabbed the injured muscles and forced his gloved fingers in as he gripped and twisted them, “That’s for Y/N.”
Taehyung had pressed the timer before he cut the subject’s tendons. He grabbed the tape from his pocket and threw it on the ground and with a chuckle he shouted, “Game over!”
Before he reached the end of the hallway, he heard the gunshots pierce his subjects face followed by the sound of the angel trap, even this far away Taehyung heard every crack of the ribs and the noise of the body being tore apart.
Without looking back, Taehyung rounded the corner and slammed the door shut.
He’d chosen the Angel trap for the irony, the subject that was currently hanging from the ceiling was no angel. They were a fucked up, evil, waste of space. Taehyung had done the world a favour, he’d done you a favour.
That got him thinking, how much blood would you shed in order to stay alive?
[a/n: who do we think was in the trap???👀]
#yandere taehyung#bts horror#dark bts#yandere bts#mafia bts#kim taehyung au#kim taehyung mafia#taehyung x reader#taehyung angst#bts angst#taehyung x you#kim taehyung x reader#yandere jin#yandere hoseok#yandere yoongi#yandere namjoon#yandere jungkook#yandere bts x reader#yandere au#bts fic#billyjigsaw!taehyung#john kramer!taehyung#billy kth au#un2verse#bts mafia au#taehyung scenarios#kim taehyung scenario#bts horror au
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