#just a little review

[marveloushunter]

i just finished the watching the last episode of Ahsoka and i'm having trouble to express my feelings xD first off all, once again i remembered how much i love Hayden, he definetely did a great job. this episode was much more better than i imagined. i've always wondered and wanted to see how would Clone Wars look in live action and,,,,, thank you mr. Filoni. i just love his perspective on Ahsoka, he loves her, we love her and he knows we love her so i can tell how much he puts into this show.

Ahsoka's younger self???? ADORABLE, she is just like we saw in TCW. firstly Anakin's attitude was odd to me but then i remembered this was just beginning of their relationship

also little note: i think that they did Hayden way more beautiful than they did on Kenobi.

THE TRANSITIONS???? the way Anakin switches to Vader, the way they put Vader's breathing in critic moments??? THE MUSIC?????? how emotional was it in the end!!

i love the way Anakin turned to be his real self in the end and smiled GOD I LOVE THIS MAN

#star wars #ahsoka spoilers #ahsoka show #ahsoka series #ahsoka tano #anakin skywalker #just a little review

[colorful-horses]

charlie

#just a simple redesign #wanted to give charlie a little seasoning. she needs a little smth smth. thought a goat motif would suit her .... because. hell and whateve #shes got cute hooves and big ears #tried to make as minimal changes as possible to stick to her original vibe #this concludes my hazbin posting. thanks for tolerating it #ill have a helluva boss review post in the next couple days when i finish watching it. after that im done #back to your regularly scheduled pony programming #charlie morningstar #hazbin hotel #fanart #my art

[cowboycannibalism]

one of the things that annoys me so bad right now is seeing letterboxd reviews about Lisa Frankenstein being like "she's such a horrible character", "those people didn't deserve to be killed" blah blah blah

SHUT UP

it's a horror romance!! a girl keeps a reanimated dead guy in her closet and falls in love with him! what did you think was going to happen? it's SUPPOSED to be fucked up and weird and that's part of its charm. quit being boring, let female characters (esp in horror) be messy and chaotic and morally gray.

#i really need to stop reading the low rating letterboxd reviews #i just get so curious about what people didnt like about movies #and most of the time they just make me annoyed lol #anywas go see this movie #i support womens rights and womens wrongs #lisa frankenstein #i love me a Frankenstein re-imagining #horror #horror hype #i live out my god complex through evil little scientists #<- thats my Frankenstein-esque media tag

[hellspawnmotel]

terranigma, a cool game

#terranigma #terranigma ark #terranigma elle #terranigma meilin #art tag #im going to write a little review in the tags bear with me #first the negative: #the magic system is weird to use and basically useless apart from one boss thats almost impossible without magic #it has some weird racism like most old games where you travel around the world. a little more egregious since its supposed to be real earth #i found the main character to be slightly insufferable for about 3/4ths of the game. i came around on him by the end tho. he grows up a lot #and i found whats by far the largest section of the game (chapter 3) to be the least interesting #im not really into helping cities develop and trade quests tho so it might just be me #oh also it is STUPID easy to permanently lock yourself out of like 15 sidequests #and theres a lot of mandatory things that are really hard to figure out. you need to use a walkthrough for this #anyway thats what i didnt like #what i DID like tho. i dont want to get into too much detail but #its a genuinely beautiful game for so much of it #there were so many moments that left me speechless #its high-concept and thoughtful and fun to play #you dont really need to do much grinding either #at its worst its obtuse and cliche but at its best its breathtaking #and i really recommend more people check it out #special shoutout to my friend seona who modded my 3DS and downloaded a bunch of roms including this one #so in conclusion. terranigma is an underrated gem. play it if youre a 90s jrpg junkie like me #just have a walkthrough open also lol

[randomgirlyoudontknow]

No one will probably read this, but as a long-time fan of ATLA (as in, I literally watched the show as it aired in 2005-2008), I wanted to share my thoughts on the live action. Let it be known that I am far from an ATLA purist––the original certainly had its own flaws and aspects that didn't age well, in retrospect. Despite the generally negative reviews I've seen from the fandom, I was actually very satisfied with this adaptation! But I’ve seen people saying that the characters were butchered, that it’s a soulless and superficial reproduction, and those who liked the live action aren’t capable of thinking/watching critically, which I wanted to push back against (I mean, I’m working on a doctorate in literature…I am quite literally incapable of watching anything uncritically).

The shift in tone to a darker, more mature one was a positive change, imo. It is definitely a much angrier show than the original, even if some of the characters were not as fiery as they should have been (*cough* Katara *cough*). Overall, while there were certainly decisions made that I didn't agree with (mainly related to pacing and narrative), I thought the cast and crew really captured the spirit of the original, and even added depth and nuance to parts I felt were initially lacking.

In general, I really appreciated the added emphasis on the cost and suffering of war and imperialism, as well as the depiction of the physical effects of bending. Now, I realize this is largely a matter of personal preference––for example, I'm very interested in depictions of war in fiction (I mean, my dissertation partially covers the impact of WWI on avant-garde art & literature, so...). But I've seen several claims that the live action glorifies war and violence in a way that is meant to traumatize the viewer, and I simply don't think that's true? While the original handled war, genocide, trauma, etc. in a phenomenal way for a kid's show in the early 2000s, it was also still sanitized when it comes to death and injury, to an extent that I feel like we, the viewers, almost lose sight of the fact that bending KILLS. Sure, we were exposed to its after effects, like the death of Katara and Sokka's mother or Zuko's scar, but there's something to be said actually seeing and acknowledging the very palpable danger that something like firebending presents.

I've even seen someone say that the show's depiction of "gratuitous violence" constitutes a "profound misunderstanding" of the source text, which I think is frankly a bad faith take. The death and violence, though more realistic, is still not a major focus of the show, nor is it glorified in any way. A glorification of violence would look like indiscriminate killing and maiming for the sake of edginess (looking at you GOT). We would see graphic depictions of death and injuries, which simply does not happen in this show (they even joke about the fact that we never see anyone die in Ember Island Players). War and fighting are still treated with the same depth and gravity as the original, only this time, the severity of its consequences isn't obscured from the viewer.

I also thought the show's handling of trauma (especially Katara's) was excellent. The choice to have Katara's mom's death revealed in flashbacks (specifically when around firebending) was something that really stood out to me. And the new characterization of Bumi, which I realize was quite unpopular, was another change I quite appreciated. His bitterness and cynicism seemed more in-line with someone who had endured 100 years of war and the suffering of his people at the hands of a brutal imperial force. Lastly, I was pleased to see the narrative attempt to address the role Iroh played in the Siege of Ba Sing Se (something that was absolutely missing from the original). The Earth Kingdom soldier confronting him and calling him a butcher was a powerful moment, for me. I truly hope the show continues to dive into this aspect of his character in future seasons.

Speaking of characters, I loved that we got extra background and insight into several of the characters. Zhao, for example, was unexpectedly quite funny, and his actor really did a phenomenal job of fleshing him out and making him feel like a real person (as slimy and smarmy as he was) rather than a stock, cartoon villain. And I have to give kudos to the actors who played Sokka and Zuko––they both did an incredible job of embodying their respective characters, in a way that felt highly reminiscent of the original. In particular, I thought the handling of Zuko's backstory was truly outstanding––perhaps even better than the original.

All in all, I felt the live action did a really nice job of balancing the darker sides with the light. While I've seen fans complaining that the show doesn't have the same goofiness and lightheartedness, I actually thought the humor worked really well––it was one of the few times I felt the overly ironic, Joss Whedonesque one-liners actually fit. Sure, the humor was a lot drier and more toned down than the original, but I nonetheless thought it carried the show's spirit well (loved that they let Sokka say “ass” not once, but twice). There were moments when I genuinely laughed out loud! I also appreciated how, despite the more mature tone, hope, friendship, and harmony still remained the most important aspect at the end of each episode.

There's a lot of room for improvement, but I was overall very satisfied with the live action, and I'm very glad that the series has been renewed. I'm very excited to see what the cast and crew does with the rest of the show!

#tl;dr i really enjoyed the live action #long post #there's honestly so much more i could say but my brain is currently fried #this is probably a little all over the place but i just finished up a book review and i am incapable of forming coherent thoughts #atla #avatar the last airbender #natla #natla positivity

[deadpoets]

A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN (1969) dir. Bill Melendez

#a boy named charlie brown #peanutsedit #peanuts #charlie brown #snoopy #filmedit #animationedit #*mine #*mygifs #y'all why is everyone such a charlie brown hater #like these girls are literally doing a song and dance abt how much charlie brown sucks AND to his face #not to mention lucy has a whole slideshow of all of charlie brown's faults #but ! besides the charlie brown hate there were a lot of sweet moments in the film #like when snoopy and charlie brown do their little hug and dance + when linus and his blanket do it too #oh ! and when charlie brown + linus + snoopy dance around as they go over spelling rules #the tags just became my review for the movie sjdhdhd #movies

[mortellanarts]

My heart just burst like a glass balloon

#strelitzia kh #strelitzia #khux #kingdom hearts #zoom in on the boots I like how the little boots turned out 😊 #this was for the character+song from the year in review thing thing pretty sure someone from another platform asked though #either that or the ask deleted itself °~° #also it's one of the only ones I liked out of that.... sorry but the songs just weren't good matches like AT ALL 😔 #my art #I FORGOT!! THE CAPTION!!

[secretmellowblog]

I'm so fascinated by how conservative reviews of Les Mis often recreate the same attitudes towards Valjean/Javert that Victor Hugo criticizes in the novel. If you've been following @psalm22-6's work collecting contemporary 19th century reviews of Les Mis (and you should!) you'll know that contemporary conservative reviewers often despised Valjean and praised Javert. This is also true for many modern conservative reviewers. And that's interesting because the larger commentary Hugo was making with the Valjean/Javert parallels is that....."Both Valjean and Javert were born in dire poverty and stigmatized because of the time they spent in prison. But wealthy conservative society hates Valjean because he's an outcast who will break their laws in order to defend marginalized people....while they approve of Javert, because Javert would happily destroy himself and everyone around him in order to lick their boots." Valjean is hated because he's "rebellious," Javert is accepted because "knows his place." Jean Valjean is "repugnant" because he would steal a loaf of bread to feed his family, and Javert is "noble" because he would happily sentence his entire family to die for the sake of obeying authority. Valjean is treated like a wild animal, while Javert is praised for his constant bootlicking subservience in the patronizing way you'd praise an obedient dog. I don't know, it's interesting to see these reviews recreating the same bigotry Hugo comments on in the novel. Reviewers make insulting bigoted comments about Valjean, and then praise Javert for how obedient/subservient he is and how he shows the Correct way for a lower-class inspector to behave, without any shred of self-awareness.

#les mis #valjean javert parallels #valjean/javert parallels #i will fight every reviewer who says negative things about valjean #hes just an unbearably sad beast. leave him alone #he's sad enough #hes just a devastated little man

[neversetyoufree]

So while I've seen a thousand jokes about this scene and Noé slapping a snapchat filter over the rat bastard in his memories, I do think it's worth analyzing what goes on here, because it's just a really well-executed example of how memories change with time and fondness.

Most of the posts I've seen have contrasted this shot of Vanitas to this one from chapter 1:

and that makes sense! They're both similar shots of him standing at the top of the steps in front of the windows, and they're also the faces that make for the biggest contrast between the two versions of the scene.

However! If you look at the actual dialogue, this super-romanticized shot of Vani isn't entirely from Noé's memory of Vanitas's speech on the podium. It's more complicated than that. Just like what often happens with real memories, when Noé recollects Vanitas's request to use his strength, he blends it with other memories of the same scene.

In the original version of this conversation, the "lend me your strength" line comes while Vanitas and Noé are still standing on the same level. This is the moment that the dialogue from the romanticized memory comes from,

and you can see immediately before and after this moment that Noé and Vanitas are still together on the lower church floor.

Vanitas only heads up the stairs to the windows/podium once he's well into his final "I will save you whether you like it or not" speech, which is what he's saying in that especially manic/bloody panel that I posted above.

When this moment flashes through Noé's mind at the start of chapter 52, he blurs the whole thing together rather than pulling any accurate memory. He puts Vanitas on top of the stairs by the window, the most dramatic and memorable staging from that scene, and has him say his "be my shield" line, the part where he's reaching out to Noé personally. Beyond the romanticized snapchat filter aesthetic of the memory, the very basics of the words and staging of the scene betray how Noé misremembers that moment.

In chapter 1, Noé reacts to "lend me your strength" with flat disinterest and "I will save you without fail" with borderline horror. In 52, however, memory Noé reacts to the blended mix of those two moments with tender admiration, showing how he's now come to view Vanitas.

Every single thing about those two pages of flashback works to show how Noé's view of Vanitas has changed. (And also to provide a contrast to the violence that immediately follows it, lol).

It's just a really well-executed example of how romanticized memories actually work in people's heads. Everything blurs together until only the best and grandest parts of the moment are left, and only then does it get the fluffy beautiful filter. And this treatment tells us so much about Noé's feelings on Vanitas at the time.

#the inaccurate flashback blocking is just such an interesting little detail to me #I love things like that #tiny background things that most people don't care to notice but that can add so much meaning when you think about it #vnc #vanitas no carte #the case study of vanitas #manga #the vanoé agenda #english major hours #ID in alt text #my drafts are glitching so I have to post this without reviewing the final version like I usually do #so if something's messed up here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ sorry

[ittybittyteddie]

Big Me: I can't wait to start working again! I'm going to be able to actually afford things. Maybe I can get a gym membership, or save up for a car, or--

Little Me in the back of my head: GET PACIS!!!

Big Me: No, I need to get adult things. I can get a credit card once I can prove income, and then--

Little Me: AND THEN GET STUFFIES TOO!!!

Big Me: I was thinking more along the lines of my own apartment with no roommates

Little Me: Right, so I can play with blocks and color and use sippies and watch fun shows and--

Big Me: N o t t h e p o i n t

#teetering between headspaces while reviewing my finances is a wild ride lol #big me just wants to be a responsible and independent adult and start my transition #but little me is in the back of my mind going “TOYS AND BOOKS AND STUFFIES AND CANDY AND--” #responsible adult stuff first and agere gear second #agere #age regression #safe agere #age dreaming #agedre #safe agedre #agere headspace

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

Those Beyond The Wall

sequel/companion to The Space Between Worlds, set a decade later

character-focused sci-fi set in an area divided in two, the rich protected city on one side and everyone else in the post-apocalyptic desert

follows a woman who works under the Emperor in Ashtown, keeping the peace

when mangled bodies start showing up with seemingly no murderer, she’s tasked with finding the cause, and finds out that it’s the result of corruption spanning both cities and multiple worlds

explores oppression and messy revolution, police violence and apartheid

bi & polyamorous MC

#Those Beyond The Wall #aroaessidhe 2024 reads #space between worlds sequel!!! honestly I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it….. In general I enjoyed it and I think it had #a lot of important things to say but also maybe highlighted some weaknesses(?) in both books? #or - I guess just the fact that the sff stuff (which skews a little more magicy here) is kinda small scope relative to its potential #and more there to serve the plot and characters. Which actually maybe is the point. idk- there's def mixed reviews lol #it has a messy unlikable MC (like actually - when half the weak ass reviews are saying the MC is annoying you know they are Actually a #complex character) and some interesting relationship dynamics #it is pretty solidly a sequel - I wouldnt read this without reading TSBW #cara does show up in here& tbh her characterisation felt quite different to me? unsure how I feel about that? but maybe it's the biased POV #also to be clear: polyam MC; not a polyam romance or anything #(there's - kinda a romance? or various feelings floating around and she 'ends up' with someone. feel like i would have liked that to end #more subtley but that's probably my personal taste lol) #man some of the 1 star reviews of this are kinda.....just racist though. can we get some measured critique in here #as I said i am not entirely sure how I feel about it but not quite in a way I can articulate.... idk! i think it's worth the read tho #it's maybe one of those revolutions that feels solved a little too easily in the end - but then also is it solved or is it just that the #narrative has to end at a certain point

[the-sage-libriomancer]

Rewatched Princess and the Frog today and honestly it feels more like a celebration of Disney's 100 years than Wish. A classic fairy tale respun in interesting ways while still being undeniably Disney? Check. A traditional story with modern twists and a (narratively) strong female protagonist? Check. A return to 2D animation in a time when the medium was dying out? Check. Hell, it even takes place in the same time period (1920s) that Walt Disney released the first animated feature film and started a hundred years of magic. There are multiple references to older Disney movies, from classics like Pinocchio and Sword in the Stone to (then) recent films like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. It features the fucking wishing star! In a more narratively sound manner than Disney's actual 100th year celebration!

And even beyond that, Princess and the Frog feels like it pays tribute to the magic of magic - the power of believing in stories, of having a dream, of working hard to reach your happy ending while never losing sight of what's really important. There is so much effort put into this movie and it shows: the animation is gorgeous, the story is creative and structurally sound, and behind the scenes reveals that the producers put their backs into making sure both the African American aspect and the New Orleans cultural aspect were accurately depicted. It was the first Disney movie in over a decade to return to the Broadway musical format, and they literally had to dust off the abandoned 2D art tools because the company hadn't used them since 2004.

Princess and the Frog was a labor of love through and through, a heartfelt tip of the hat to Disney's legacy while still being its own story. I don't know what could be more celebratory of Walt Disney's dream than that.

#i admittedly haven't seen wish yet so i feel a little hypocritical complaining about it #but i have Not been hearing good things about it and i trust the youtubers on this one #years of cross referencing other people's reviews with my own thoughts has taught me how to sense #when the masses are right and when they're talking shit #and when it comes to wish i think it really is just a corporate-controlled mehburger :/ #anyway please rewatch princess and the frog it is SOOOOOO GOOD #i really couldn't ask for a more perfect movie #might make another post talking about it because it needs way more appreciation that it gets #it's the movie that killed disney's 2d animation era #but it was so worth it just for the movie to exist #princess and the frog #wish 2023 #analysis #sage speaketh

[sincerelyhannibal]

#this is just a little treat for me #head empty #brennan lee mulligan #make some noise #d20 #dimension 20 #shirt review post

[minas-linkverse]

Ngl I was going to ask about Breath of the Wild but I’d thought you’d get a million of those asks lol. I was also torn between asking about Wind Waker, so whichever one you want to answer more is chill!!

haha yea I thought I'd get a million asks too! Somehow even now this remains the only botw ask, I guess people just figured it must've been sent already 😅

Now to actually share my thoughts on botw... Man I hope people don't get mad at me.

I did not like it!. The first play through I had was mildly exciting simply due to there being a whole unknown world to see, but after a while that gimmick wore off. I knew that if I made my way to the cool looking mountain or interesting abandoned building I'd just find a bokoblin and/or a chest with a gem. Whats the point of a gorgeous expansive world when all I find is the same...! 😫

Oh wow! A town with a whole new atmosphere and culture I sure wonder what I'll get up to h- Ok they have the same shops with slightly different items. Ok cool. There's like a few small quests for more inventory filler I don't really need. Cool cool.

I understand that the game is really fun for some people, they'll do quests just to get to play more of the game. They want all that extra stuff to upgrade armour and really get into the nitty gritty mechanics of the game... But I did not. It was not for me.

Also ouugh the puzzles...! My favourite part of Zelda games is the puzzle solving, but these were in no way satisfying and often more fun to just break. Why would I bother even trying to get into the devs heads when A) I could just break it and B) I have too many options to consider! I can't possibly get a clean eureka moment when everything from monster guts to just climbing could be the solution...! Where's the engaging simplicity of knowing exactly what you have and following the devs' clues to reach the solution!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaa--

I also disliked the story, all the interesting bits in it happened a 100 years ago and I feel like I arrived late with a starbucks. I also will not get over the weird ending cutscene!! After countless fascinating memories of Zelda having very complex emotions at Link... What do you mean you're just going to have a vaguely romantic "Do you still remember me?" YEAH I DO, I thought u disliked me! Which is a fascinating story direction I would've loved continued but OK! I guess we're ignoring that! Women cant be angry that makes them less cute and marketable, I guess!!!!

I... Sorry this is so ranty, I've been holding it in a long time. I think there's a lot to love in botw and I wish I wasn't so sour about it. Other people's love and excitement for it is wonderful and I hope they keep making the art they love. If its your first game in the series and got you into it, that's nothing to be ashamed about. I'm just a grumpy old man waving at cloud /ref.

Honestly I think botw could've been wonderful if it was a new IP. It feels all the Zelda stuff was sort of glued onto a concept that wasn't prepared to carry that mantle. It would've been better off with a new exciting world and cast of characters. It still wouldn't be a game I much care for, but the freedom that could've granted the developers would've been a treat to see.

It's worth adding that even though I dislike botw, I want to treat the characters of that game with respect and care in my comic. I may not love them in game but I can see the passion others have and I am committed to make something worth their time. Your special guys are safe with me. I have 0 desire to dunk on them, and instead wish to honour the love you all have. In a way I'm learning to love them myself through that.

#Ask #Game Reviews tm #Long Post #Please dont hurt me Im just a little lady

[sysig]

Hey, hey! RnR not requested! (Patreon)

#Doodles #SCII #DAX #ZEX #Does anyone still use RnR lol #I think I was a little too late for that but in my brief stint on FF.net I did get a couple reviews so *shruggles* #ANYway lol #The topic of VUX poetry came up and it would not leave me alone #But at the same time it is so hard to English-phoneticize VUK ZIX into my preferred poetry method! #So I gave up and went with a playground chant lol #I also wasn't sure which direction it would be read in apart from bottom-up :0 #Japanese is top-down right-to-left so maybe it's inverse?? I don't know! #That's what I went with this time anyhow lol #Also making up rules on the spot lol - ''a'' is always contextually inferred by its surroundings #Have I thought about the implications of inferred subject/singular vs. plural phrasing? No! Give me some time tho ♪ #Lol #I have also pretty firmly come to the conclusion that -ing sounds just aren't a thing lol #At least not written and not comfortably spoken #You could force the sound but it's exactly what it says on the tin - forced #So the rhyme-scheme is a bit funny haha - that rhyme doesn't translate at all! But it is still fun to write a little ship-poem hehe #ZEX does not approve but it's not his poem is it! Tentacles to yourself! Don't stick your trunk where it's not wanted! #I do love when DAX is silly and lovestruck haha

[spilled--the--milk]

blah blah blah something about passions being passed down through generations and the ties that bind people together yadda yadda yadda

#i think it's very sweet how quintons dad did the 38 hour video for april fools actually #like i remember quinton talking about his dad doing his own marathon of the henningverse and them bonding iver it in the victorious vid #so seeing how similar they are in their hobbies and how passionate they are about them just makes a little part of me glow #idk maybe it's daddy issues #quinton reviews #the 38 hour beverly hillbillies vid #quinton #the victorious essay guy #victorious #beverly hillbillies