#not super happy with this? I love the design but the art is meh

[palilious]

little concept art for my design of Camelopardalis

#hello sailor #i bought a natural hair brush a while back and ive been trying to use it #cam is the perfect test subject #ive been meaning to design him for a while #not super happy with this? I love the design but the art is meh #expect a better one soon lol #super happy with the horns and all the jewerly tho #i just wanted him to ooze gender #art #oc #originalartwork #originalcharacter #redacted asmr #redactedasmr #sketch #character design #redacted camelopardalis #doodle #redacted cam #pali draws redacted #redacted audio

[game-boy-pocket]

So... Nintendo Direct thoughts I guess.

I joined a little late, so honestly, I just fast forwarded through all the games I didn't care about. Kinda the way to go tbh.

I still don't know about pokemon man. Everyone is saying "Yeah it's poorly made but it's one of their better games in a long time" but like I don't know how much I trust a pokemon fan's opinion on that that... you know I preordered Violet, after Legends Arceus left a good impression on me. But I cancelled it after some financial harships started happening and now I feel like I dodged a bullet.

Sonic Super Stars is looking pretty good, I really... really wish Fang was playable... I know he's a bad guy but I love him so much and have always wanted him to be playable... I'm just glad he's back at all, and his 3D model looks decent.

That "Saturday Morning Cartoon" inspired game intrigues me but like they shouldn't have had the boring Nintendo Direct narrator talking over the trailer and let the game speak for itself, show it's personality a little... does it have cheesy filmation style dialogue?? Also their villain looks kind of lame compared to like, Skeletor or Prime Evil.

Still not sure about Splatoon 3. It just looks like more of the same to me, I am kind of curious, but at the same time, it feels too late to start now... then again, if the game really is as samey as it looks, I could probably just coast on what I know from Splatoon 1 and 2.

I have no interest in Detective Pikachu as a franchise and the fact that his personality just seems to be "I love coffee" does not endear me to the character.

Super Mario RPG

Holy Fucking Shit

I didn't think the maniacs would do it.

When I heard the rumors I was like "Yeah right... this does not fit in line with the current corporate image of Mario, they're not gonna do it, and if they do, they'll butcher the art style"

I was so fucking wrong, it looks amazing. They even made Mario all squat and pudgy like the original game, I love it so much, and it looks like there are new cinematics... possibly even entirely new sections of the game what with Bowser riding his Clown car with the others.... that or they're new special attacks. I can't fucking wait you guys it looks so fucking good, I hope they consider making it a franchise again. I still have the original game but I am going to buy this day one.

We even saw Boshi briefly, and the spines still have their weird shapes. I have no reason to believe they'll change Terrapins into standard looking Koopa Troopas now. Literally all my fears are gone.

Don't know what to think about the Peach game. I make it no secret, I'm kind of over the whole arts and crafts aesthetic in games and a game that's just a stage play seems no different. I'm not even sure what kind of game it is. I just would have wanted another platformer. I guess I have to see more.

Luigi's Mansion 2 coming to Switch is a pleasant surprise. I wonder if we're going to enter an age of 3DS ports, because I can think of several 3DS games I want to see on Switch. Kid Icarus and A Link Between Worlds chief among them Luigi's Mansion 2 is my least favorite in the series, but it's still a good time. It not being on handheld makes me more likely to replay it. I do think they could have enhanced the visuals a little more though.

Too little too late with Batman. I already bought it on PC. I would have bought the Arkham Trilogy day one if it launched earlier in the Switch's life. But i'm glad the option is there for people.

I'll be honest I thought Dragon Quest Monsters looked pretty "meh", and I don't know if it's just a bad trailer or what, but the fact that the Solo, the Hero from DQIV shows up, immediately got my interest, he hs my fave hero design, and I was happy he was a skin in Smash Bros... still, man, this looks like a 3DS game... How can they be releasing this after Dragon Quest XI?? Also, is the playable character the bad guy from DQIV? I played the NES version so I didn't really see his human form.

Not much to say about Pikmin. It looks like Pikmin. Which is a good thing. But I don't know how eager I am to play it. Not a day one purchase, but an eventual purchase.

I am tempted by the Metal Gear Solid collection but it has so much extra shit that I don't really need which probably jacks up the price and I think I might prefer playing MGS1 on a CRT anyway. But man it's jsut been so long since I played Metal Gear that I don't even care I just want a way to play it. I'm just glad it's not a fucking Cloud game.

Penny's Big Breakaway had my attention just from the character designs, it screams Playstation 1 platformer. Like Mega Man Legends or Tail Concerto or something. And it's a 3D platformer... but when I heard the Sonic Mania team is working on this, i'm all in. I just wish the enemies weren't just a bunch of dopey looking birds, I want a least some kind of cool factor in the game. But yes I will be keeping my eye on this one.

Mario Kart 8 DLC looking okay. I expected Petey. He's cool I guess but i'm not gonna play as him. I'll be happy to see him on the track though. He was kind of a big part of Mario History in the Gamecube and Wii era.... Wiggler though? Meh... and KAMEK. He should have been in the base game imo, he should be a mainstay in every spinoff, he should have been introduced with the Yoshi's Island course... I'm very happy to have Kamek here. The course looks interesting too. Glad it appears to be another new course.

The new Wario Ware....... looks like Smooth Moves 2. Was the boring Nintendo Direct Narrator doing a Wario voice or did Wario get a new voice actor?? Anyway. I'll keep an eye on this. Smooth Moves was my 2nd Fave Wario Ware game, so this shows potential.

I was pretty bummed out when they mentioned Tears of the Knigdom, and it was only to announce some Amiibos... I still can't even find the Link Amiibo. They look nice though. It will be nice to have a Ganondorf Amiibo that doesn't look like shit. ( No offense to TP Ganondorf fans, but you gotta admit, the first wave f Smash Bros Amiibos is kind of rough ) ...I hope this isn't a deconfirmation of DLC. I really want more of this game, now that the main story is done and my list of side quests is rapidly shrinking, I'm getting sad about the inevitable end of one of my fave Zeldas.

And the big one

Super Mario Wonder

I'll admit I was disappointed that it was doing 3D again instead of a hand drawn style...

But the characters look so good now. They actually look more like 3D models of Koichi Kotabe's artwork. Mario and co are so expressive, their stances are not nearly as boring as the New Super Mario Bros games, their animations are so good, calling back to Mario 3 and Mario World with the blurry feet and airplane run, Mario actually HAS facial expressions now... and holy shit is fucking DAISY playable? Without sacrificing Toad? This is pretty huge! The enemies are looking really cool and stylized too, they all seem to have gotten model upgrades!

I will say... this is reminding me a little bit of Kirby Return to Dreamland, which... is worrying to me. That "wonder Flower" reeks of a Kirby gimmick, and I honestly find that Kirby's gimmicks lately just kind of slow the flow of the game, and often times just feel like all flash and no substance. "ooh I destroyed a hole room of enemies with a really big sword that I was forced to pick up" like I don't actually feel like I accomplished anything with that... I hope I'm wrong.

Also, I heard the rumor that there would be elephants... I don't like elephants. I thought I'd hate Elephant Mario... but you know what, he makes me smile.

I am so excited for this game.

This was definitely one of the better Nintendo Directs in a while, it won't top the back to back Banjo in Smash and Tears of the Kingdom reveal for me, but i'm pretty happy with what's on the horizon.

[foldable-mattress]

Chiaki, peko, or kirumi?

Feeling silly so why not all three

Chiaki:

Favorite Thing: I love everything about her. Her design is so cozy and cute, she is so neurodivergent with her hyperfixation on gaming and her accidental bluntness, ahhh I love her!

Least Favorite Thing: The fact that she dies twice, I sob. I also really hate how the fandom portrays her as boring with no personality but that's not a character thing.

Favorite Line: Sobbing while going through Chiaki voice lines but I like "Hey, Hajime... This isn't for the sake of anyone else. You... You have to do this for yourself. Now then! It's about time you show me your cool side, Hajime. C'mon, I'll help out too..." I was looking for a nice quote but found this honorable mention on the Wiki "Apparently Mikan has never played video games before. She's totally missing out on 90% of her life."

BrOTP: Her and Kazuichi, I feel, would be such a fun dynamic as well as her and the other female supports/mains.

OTP: I already mentioned Komahinanami for Hajime so I'm gonna say a different one. I love Sonia and Chiaki as well as Ibuki and Chiaki. Chiaki is just one of those characters that you can put her with almost anyone and I would appreciate it.

NOTP: I don't think I've seen any Chiaki ships that I outright hate? Maybe TeruTeru? We'll go with that one

Random Headcanon: My friend and I have an AU that we've done absolutely nothing with where everyone helps Kaz build a robot to put Chiaki's AI in so she becomes very Kiibo-esque. Just a happy little AU where the world is in peril, but at least she's somewhat alive. Since that's not really a headcanon though I must add that I believe in fat Chiaki supremacy.

Unpopular Opinion: I actually find her to be a super interesting support character. She has the wits and bluntness that Kyoko and Maki have while also being super nice and supportive like Kaede and Komaru.

Songs I Associate Them With: Goodbye To A World by Porter Robinson and I'd Rather Sleep by Kero Kero Bonito (also just a lot of video game music, especially from games like Undertale)

Favorite Picture: Her splash art is super cute! I also love that one scene in the anime where Chisa has her over her shoulder, and she's just lazily waving to Hajime while still playing her game.

Peko:

Favorite Thing: I love Peko! Her talent is super interesting and I love how she has a soft side (plus she gets flustered fairly easily which I find adorable)

Least Favorite Thing: They could've done so much more with her character than they did. The role she plays in the Chapter 1 trial had the potential to be really great with her keeping guard, but instead, she's reduced to a bathroom joke. I was not a fan of the Sparkling Justice thing either. I get it was for a cover-up as well as a reference to her Japenese VA being Usagi from Sailor Moon, but it's meh at best.

Favorite Line: During her introduction where she says she'd rather not kill someone and Hajime points out that her sword is bamboo to which she responds "Though it may seem impossible to kill someone with this, a misaimed blow can be fatal. Well, an aimed blow can be fatal, too."

BrOTP: Gundham and Peko, hands down. I want my secret softies that love animals to be besties, right now! I'm so sad their friendship is only really mentioned in one of her FTEs

OTP: I love love LOVE Pekobuki. Their sun and moon dynamic is so good, and the bonus scene they're in is just chefs' kiss! (Also love Fuyupeko but that has been clearly overshadowed)

NOTP: Again, Teruteru. He just needs to get disciplined a lot before I even consider shipping him with anyone.

Random Headcanon: Chiaki got her hooked on Beat Saber, and now she's a God at it. Fuyuhiko also convinced her to go to therapy (they all should be going to therapy), so she's slowly starting to appreciate herself as her own person.

Unpopular Opinion: I haven't seen any popular opinions that I disagree with. Maybe that her and Fuyuhiko aren't technically siblings since not only were they raised with a power imbalance but Peko mentions a childhood crush in her FTEs that lines up pretty accurately with Hiko. Fuyupeko is a popular ship though so idk how much that counts lolol, I've just seen a lot of people use that against the ship (see them how you want though, no hate)

Songs I Associate With Them: As The World Caves In by Matt Maltese and Killer Queen by Queen

Favorite Image: Look at her. Everyone is so happy because of her! (Also found the gallery image of her and Taka, which I feel is an honorable mention)

Kirumi:

Favorite Thing: She's so patience and kind compared to the absolute chaos in her class. It's nice the see

Least Favorite Thing: I think we all agree that her Prime Minister background is weird at best

Favorite Line: Her screaming, "I WILL NOT DIE!" at the end of the Chapter 2 trial will forever send chills down my spine

BrOTP: I feel like she would get along well with Rantaro and Kiyo if given the chance

OTP: I honestly don't really ship her with anyone

NOTP: Hmm, I'd say maybe Kokichi for this one. It might be the fact that he calls her mom a few times, idk

Random Headcanon: I like to think that she enjoys listening to classical music while working. Just something soothing to keep her focused.

Unpopular Opinion: I don't have any, at least not that I know of

Songs I Associate With Them: Ahh, this one was really difficult for some reason. I think I'll go with My Time by bo en or & by Tally Hall (idk why, purely off vibes here)

Favorite Image: There's not a whole lot of good images with her that I can find but I like her splash art

#danganronpa #chiaki nanami #peko pekoyama #kirumi tojo #I feel so bad that Kirumi's is noticeably shorter but I love Chiaki and Peko so much

[lafayetteworld]

Robin 2021

Okay, so it's been a while since I've been actively posting on tumblr, mainly because I haven’t had time. That being said, the commentary I am about to make on the Robin 2021 series is not meant to offend anyone and while I am particularly critical, I also acknowledge that some people genuinely like it/prefer the direction its's going in. And that's fine. But I did want to break down why I feel the current series is just 'meh' to me at the moment and it’s not necessarily because Damian is potentially being shipped with a newly introduced character.

Please be aware, that there are lots of spoilers. 

So, to start off, I am a big fan of the older Batman and Robin (2009) series, where Damian had partnered up first with Dick and later Bruce (2011). I do no think they are flawless, certainly. I think, in particular, the Nobody plot - excluding of course the interactions between Batman!Dick and Robin! Damian which are gold - was very good. In just a handful of issues, I think we were offered a great insight into Damian's character and how layered he is. 

My first thoughts when I heard about Robin 2021, based on the announcement: Damian will follow his own path, for some reason he retains the Robin moniker which is weird but okay, it does seem like something he'd do I suppose. He will participate in mortal kombat-sort-of-tournament, which will showcase his abilities and in the process, 'he will seek his own destiny' (which I believe was a line used in the actual announcement). The reason he wants to win? Initially, it appeared to be only because he wanted to prove to be the world's best fighter -- which by the way, how is only a tournament of this level only coming up now? Anyways, ignored that. Not a big deal. The idea of watching Damian fight different opponents was appealing either way.

The art of those comics is perhaps nowhere as striking/appealing as Robin 2021 and there's certainly not as many elements to it, but there was just something about it. I stopped reading comics after, for reasons I can't recall but I do remember finding out that Damian was killed off sometime after. I was super heartbroken over it but luckily I found out about it right around the time DC decided to bring him so really I had to wait a short while to see the little shit being Robin again.

I am not as familiar with the arc on Alfred's death but I know Damian watched what was basically his grandfather figure die in front of his eyes. How it was addressed after was rather poorly and that's a discussion for another time, just as it is that hot mess of Gleason's Titans.

 My hopes may have been too high in thinking we will be offered the introspection we'd seen in Batman and Robin, or him deciding what type of vigilante he wants to be. Like who remembers Damian admitting 'sometimes I don't know who I am or what I want' or him saying he does not wish to be like Nobody. That was so poignant.  

First issue of Robin 2021 was a disappointment. I know that there's a lot of damage to the character that had to be addressed but why did he die from like the beginning? Why is it the first thing we see is the author's OC defeat him? I mean, we really didn't need that to find the tournament's rules. Anyway, I was so sold on the art that I could have overlooked all that, except then the art became inconsistent so.....

Do I think Flatline's design is awesome? Yep. Do I like that she is potentially a badass female fighter? Sure. Do I like her abilities? Somewhat? They haven't been explored that much. But to me, having an OC appear out of nowhere and kill the character I was hoping to watch mature/develop is a bit underwhelming. Then, we start getting references of how poetic it is that Damian may fall in love with the first girl that kills him. I thought it was funny at the beginning but subsequent issues only seem to point that actually, the author does want to use Flatline/romance in this journey of growth that Damian is undergoing. I mean, we really shouldn't be romanticizing that she killed him? The girl is serious about winning too. That she caught him off guard is actually rather awesome but I don't think it had to mean anything more than Damian meeting a potentially dangerous fighter and that he needs to be less reckless.

Damian is a pretty complex/difficult character with a lot to figure out. Why does he need a girlfriend? Why can't he have friends that helps him grow or mentor figures? Him and Rose have such a great dynamic, for example.

I see a lot of people saying 'well, he's a teenager boy so it's normal'. Yeah of course it is. But why can't it be the opposite? Damian isn't a normal teenager. Out there, may be teenagers who feel the same. They don’t care about this stuff. 

It is so frustrating, and underwhelming. Not because there's anything wrong with Damian having a crush. Not because there's necessarily anything wrong with Flatline. But because there's no need.

Why is it just because he's a teenager he has to have a romantic interest? If romance is introduced in a plot, surely it doesn't have to be just because 'he's a teenager'. And if he does, why does it have to be an OC that hasn't been explored very well? Flatline could be a seriously cool character without needing to be a romantic interest for Damian and vice versa, Damian has so much to figure out on his own. So for me it's not the shipping that’s an issue, it’s the reasoning and how it may perpetuate clichés when there’s other angles that could be explored. 

Also, why the hell is Alfred used to drive Flatline's likeability? If Alfred is Damian's guilt manifesting, then that's actually Damian thinking that?

'I like this one, Master Damian.'

Seriously. I really hope we end up finding out that was tied in with Flatline's ability or something. So, Williamson won't explore Damian's guilt over Alfred but he'll give us a panel where Alfred (or a manifestation of him) is basically giving his thumbs up for his OC. That doesn’t sit well with me. Not so early in the series, anyway. 

Why is this whole manga thing keep coming back? Yes, Damian reads manga. I loved this addition and I think it's great that Williamson actually brought it in. The fact that it was Flatline who found it seems cliché. And no, I don't think it's a parallel between the shojo manga characters and them two. I really hope that particular manga has a deeper meaning than that. The fact that we keep seeing the blood sprayed (or is it cuts? not sure) on it does seem to hint at that.

There were some good moments. Damian and Dick. Basically every single interaction between Damian and Ravager. The whole Damian and Conner could have been developed better, because it seemed rather sudden they had a heart to heart when Damian can be such a distrusting little shit. Damian reuniting with Goliath.

Why is it that we're five issues into this series and it's all over the place? I don't dislike it. The art is great, although there's so many inconsistencies. But it's been super hard to feel in any way about it other than just 'meh'.

Issue #6 was boring. I didn't mind Flatline and Damian analysing other fighters, it was interesting actually, but that it's still being framed as heading towards a romantic relationship is so.....well, eugh.

Overall, I just don't feel there's enough...substance? Damian does interact with a wide variety of characters and there are a lot of things going on - batfamily searching for him, Ra’s Al Ghul (which was funny yet so odd the way he was characterized), the whole tournament and magic island, so on.

Flatline is not the issue for me, but rather one part of why the series has not managed to appeal to me. I do feel there's a bit too much of her. Or rather, there's not enough of her as a character and too much of the whole 'they're teenagers so they'll have to end up having a crush on one another because he's a boy and she's a girl who literally stole his heart'. Like, I wouldn’t mind having Flatline or other fighters background explored, just to see the types of people they are and so on. 

I wish there'd more of Damian's inner thoughts too. If not that, then give us more fights. Not just snippets. It's a tournament. Let's see how badass they all are. Damian’s fight scenes in #6 were beautiful but brief. I hope the next issues will give us more of that.  As someone who does like Damian x OC fics, I can’t blame the author for wanting to hype their own OC, but I am also a great fan of friends to lovers, slow burns, friendships can be just as great as romantic relationships, of taking the time for mental/emotional growth. 

Anyways, if you've made it to the end of this commentary, I applaud you. Once again, if you do like the whole Damian x Flatline thing, that's cool. I don't, but I do understand to an extent why people find it appealing. And if you think the Robin 2021 series is amazing, then I am happy for you -- I wish I could be this enthusiastic about it.

P.S just saw the cover for issue #7 or is it #8 ? I think I may cry.

#damian wayne #flatlinedc #robin 2021 #spoilers #just an analysis of how I am finding this series so far #robin 2021 spoilers it's not a terrible series but not good either imo

[wickedpact]

A ranking of all the TTT stories in order of how much I liked them.

(Oh god this is so long)

1 My Mother's Axe

BABY ANDYYYYYYYYYYYY. Honestly this one had the trifecta of developing a character's motivations, developing a character's backstory, & developing their personality. The story starting out with Andy teaching Nile to use the axe was so charming and fun, and you could feel that chemistry they had in Opening Fire, the way they teased and bickered with each other so naturally. I loved the wedge between them on the subject of the axe, how Nile was perhaps a little too young to understand Andy's feelings about whether or not its the 'same' axe. I also love how the axe is obviously the symbol of the franchise and hugely important, but you never get a sense of exactly how important it is to Andy until you read the story.

I love the entire Ship of Theseus theme, and how it feels so natural that for Andy she has to get attached to the idea of things rather than the things themselves because she'll always outlive the things themselves-- the axe is symbolically her mom's axe, even if physically it isn't. And I love how she clearly clings to that concept so tightly. "This is the labrys she held in her hands...." IT GETS ME.

And the fact that this sense of BELONGING, of FAMILY, of CULTURE is so important to Andy that she clings to it (figuratively and literally) with both hands. And of course it's important to her, she spent so long alone that the woman doesn't even remember her birth name. That axe (or the idea of that axe) is all she has left of her mother and that family/culture she was born into.

PLUS on that note I love how Andy doesn't remember if her mom was her actual biological mother, but it doesn't matter to her. This woman was her mother in all the ways that counted. And how her mom BETRAYED AND KILLED Andy but Andy loved her so much that she avenged her and carried her axe for thousands of years. THOUSANDS OF YEARS!!!!!!

I also loved how the story transcends the timeline of the whole franchise and seeing Andy through the years. Loved seeing her with the varying squads and with varying axes. Also baby Andy was so cute. It was cool seeing her so young. like holy fuck. Andromache The Scythian, Immortal Warrior (but smol). Love that.

Also I think this one is one of the few ttt stories that doesn't suffer from length problems.

tldr: goddammit greg you've done it again.

2 Zanzibar and Other Harbors

Zanzibar my beloved. I've said before, but it's downright comedic how little regard there was for Joe and Nicky's character designs in this story. The same person who does the colors for the regular comic did the colors for this one too, and you can tell, every panel of this story was Beautiful.

Ik there was A Lot of criticism of this one (lmao @ how the fandom had no idea what was to come) but I thought a lot of The Discourse was a bit dramatic. I did think Nicky came off as a little oblivious to Joe's feelings in this story, but I've said before, I honestly think that was a 'tone not translating' thing. It felt like Nicky was nagging Joe for [checks notes] saving innocent people, but Joe was so amused by Nicky's complaints I really do think it was supposed to come off as teasing.

Plus I know the 'Joe running off into danger and Nicky reluctantly following' dynamic wasn't popular (I'm a pretty meh on it meself) but I did love how Joe's impulsiveness (if you want to call it that) was interpreted as heroism and not hot-hotheadedness. All of the examples Nicky and Joe talked about included Joe explicitly saving people. (and it also took A Lot for the nazi to actually provoke Joe).

I also feel like their characterization here was closest to the movie canon-- the bit where they hear the woman scream and Joe goes running in to save her while Nicky swoops in on Joe's heels to comfort her while Joe and the nazi were fighting reminds me of the train car scene. Joe had suggested First that they go find Nile because she needed to be protected, and Nicky later added that Nile probably also needed emotional support. Similar reactions.

But it was So Good, the themes of queer community and the enduring nature of queer culture are Not themes you see in media that often and it was such a delight how it was done. Also it's one of the few more modern TTT stories that has a completely valid excuse for taking place when it did. Chef's kiss.

3 Passchendaele

I love the Duality between seeing baby Andy and then seeing Mama Andy in the very next issue. This story doesn't have a ton of meat to it, but the entire concept of Andy adopting a war orphan straight off the battlefield PLUCKS MY TENDER LITTLE HEARTSTRINGS, and I think it's especially poignant for comic!Andy. I think most people wouldn't think twice about movie!Andy doing something like that but comic Andy is so hardened and almost cruel sometimes, and seeing that even for her the world hasn't beaten all of the compassion from her yet is SO!!!!!!! this woman contains MULTITUDES okay, she's violent and angry and tired and Done but she's also so kind and compassionate and THE STRENGTH OF HER!!!!! Also the idea of her and Yitzhak co-raising a kid together is so damn cute. It was #mysterious pre-Yitzhak-story but now it's cute. holy fuck. It's cute.

& the headbonk panel of her and Zeus lives in my heart. anyways.

4 Many Happy Returns

I Know people weren't thrilled about Booker being in this one, but I've developed a pet-peeve about that: this story was *not* booker-centric. Booker only exists in this story to the extent required to explain the importance of the gesture Nile makes towards him. If there was a story about Booker making some grand gesture of kindness to Nile no one would be saying it was Nile-centric. bc it wouldn't be! Booker exists in this story to explore Nile's kindness, its not about him. I saw that a couple times and it bothered me. anyways.

AAAAAAAAAA I loved this one, the art was beautiful, I loved how Andy Nile and Booker were drawn (like their comic selves but.. more looking like actual people). I loved Andy and Nile's Bants, how Andy wanted to jump right in and Do Violence but Nile was basically telling her to hold her horses.

I feel like I'm just repeating the post I made on this story a few days ago, but I LOVED how Nile's plan revolves not around violence or Cool Mercenary Skills but on Nile's own life skills (as she canonly did a lot of minimum wage job-hopping before the marines in comics canon). Her plan used her skills, not the skills of an immortal warrior, and HER SKILLS were in fact more useful for the situation! lov to see Nile's resourcefulness and planning skills.

AND HOW NILE WAS PROBABLY WATCHING BOOKER??? it's so Much bc 1.) nile knew booker A SINGLE DAY and yet he made such an impression on her emotionally that she had to keep an eye on him and 2.) she said in the movie she wanted Booker to get off free with an apology. Yes she's a member of the team but that doesn't mean she's necessarily going to follow orders like a good little soldier. I also love how she convinced Andy to go along with it. her HEART, her KINDNESS, her THOUGHTFULNESS, UGH.

5 The Bear

Honestly I have like no negative things to say about this one other than a.) character design issues which is less about the story itself and is more of a 'tog comic in general' criticism and b.) too short, but it was supposed to be a tease, so.

But I loved Yitzhak, I wasn't expecting to really like him at all but like I said in my other post, he tickled me. I love characters who are Kind™, especially if they have little reason to be so given their backgrounds. Chef's kiss. Lov him.

6 Bonsai Shokunin

I know this one was a little controversial bc of the outsider POV but whenever I see people upset about that they never point out that the Outsider Guy (the samurai) existed as a reflection on Noriko. His ideas are explained in the text to develop hers. The whole story follows how she gave mercy to a scared young man and in response he murdered Noriko, repeatedly! Who gave him the right to inflict such pain and suffering on the world? In his opinion, the lack of response from the gods was his permission. And for Noriko-- over and over again she dies and suffers because she gave mercy, which lines up with her ideas in FM about how it's their fate to rule mortals and if they don't align with that plan/fate/whatever then they suffer. It shows some background to those ideas and how they developed in her mind outside of Ocean Madness™. Additionally, his idea of 'the Gods have done nothing to strike me down so it's fine if I do these things' kind of explains how Noriko may justify her own morally corrupt actions-- she's died so many times and it's never stuck. Maybe if she did die any of those times, or while she was in the water, maybe that would've been a sign she was doing something right, or at least doing something normal. But she hasn't died. Fate isn't done with Noriko yet. And maybe there's a reason for that. In her mind, it's just not a very pleasant reason, is all.

There were things I was kind of meh about tho. I did kind of wish we saw something of Noriko and the team, or smth explaining the way she was before her dip in the pool-- personality, likes dislikes, etc. but it wasn't bad or anything. It was super vague tho, I had to read it a few times before I got what it was going for. Liked the art. Liked the bonsai metaphor. And of course I Respect the decision to use the 1300s (1200s? I don't remember off the top of my head) rather than using the last 200 years.

7 Strong Medicine

Honestly looking back, this one made me kind of sad because both this one and Bonsai Shokunin explored character's ideas on Fate and The Divine and how that intersects with immortality and I totally thought that theme would be continued, especially with Love Letters. But Then It Wasn't™.

Admittedly.... I had to re-read this one to remember most of it. I liked Booker's ideas on God, 'The conductor of the symphony just may not be very good at his trade' but the plot itself was kind of forgettable. Some fuckin cowboys try to kill a doctor (their second) because he couldn't save their sickly brother. Book tries to stop them, gets killed, and then comes back and kills them all before they get the doctor. Alright. I liked the artstyle because the characters were ugly in a similar way that leandro's are, but way more bearable.

I love the Irony of Booker concluding that there is no such thing as fate or destiny and nothing has meaning, AS HE UNKNOWINGLY SAVES MERRICK'S GRANDFATHER FROM BEING KILLED. Booker getting fucked over by life/god/destiny yet again. It also kind of explains about where the fuck hell Merrick's interest in immortal mercenaries even came from.

I originally had this one a lot higher and then I thought about it and moved it down like two spots.

8 Never Gets Old

I liked seeing Booker interact with his kid. And we got a name for the kid! Philippe was a little bitch though, he was a little obnoxious. I liked how Booker was so thrilled to experience a restaurant with his kid (and since we know he was there before, it can be assumed he went with all of his kids and yet he was so charmed each time). It fits with his line to Nicky in the moon landing story about how you don't appreciate beautiful things 'unless you have someone to share them with'. It was charming to see Booker interact with his kid, and to see him so happy. Also lmao @ Booker's big fat Ye Olde Crush on Andy.

However at the same time it was like.. of all the things to write about,,, I guess? Booker's Night Out...... alright. Especially since Book had so many stories.

I don't know, it was alright. The old man killing him really came out of nowhere, (but the 'Salut, asshole!' panel was funny tho).

9 How To Make a Ghost Town

I've hit a point where talking about these stories has gotten less fun. I liked this one but I felt like Achilles getting lynched was not really necessary for a story that was already tragic (a story that already involved Achilles doing a lot of suffering at the hand of bigots). When we first got the blurb for this story I thought it would be about Andy returning to the squad and making friends with Booker after losing Achilles and them butting heads on the idea of family and when to cut off ties. So a little bit of my underwhelmedness about this one might be just my expectations being different.

Honestly I was pretty interested in Andy and Achilles' relationship and I would've liked to see more of them-- like, what was their dynamic like? What did they love about each other?

But anyways Andy leaving and Achilles getting killed anyways feels so pointlessly tragic (which I suppose is the point..... I don't like tragedies) she left to save him and yet people killed him anyway. Meh.

I did love the bits about Andy wanting to have a domestic life (Andy and her multitudes again) and the little detail about how she buried her axe near the road but he buried his guns under his bed-- he was an escaped slave, he never had the luxury of assuredness like Andy did. It was a sad story.

10 Lacus Solitudinis

'You put this one above love letters crim??? how could you???' easy, lmao.

There was stuff in this one I liked. But to talk about stuff I didn't like: (I'll keep it brief, I know ragging on this story has been done time and time again)

UH, setting aside the 6 year cold shoulder between Joe and Nicky, I thought their chosen method of conflict resolution was... bad at best. Nicky's inability to talk about his feelings was also annoying, especially since the entire point of this story is a fight Joe and Nicky had, and yet we don't get both sides to the story, which is...... important? That fact is especially annoying bc in the absence of Nicky explaining his side of the story, it's absolutely a possible (and admittedly probably unintentional) interpretation of the text that we do get that Joe routinely resolves conflict between him and Nicky by simply cutting Nicky out of his life entirely until Nicky just. caves? Even if it takes years?

WHICH i could get into that interpretation and how fucked up i find it. but im not going to. out of restraint.

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting ways to go about this conflict but 'Nicky wants to kill a guy and Joe refuses to acknowledge his existence until he stops because he thinks Nicky is too much of a Good Boy to get his hands dirty like that' ('I wont watch as the world turns his (...) compassion into something ugly'. ) wasn't.. how I would've done it. (I mean you know Joe doesn't give a shit about what Nicky is doing in a moral way, because Joe doesn't even care or mention that Booker is killing those cops too. Joe only cares because he doesn't like the idea of Nicky changing in a way he finds undesirable.)

admittedly I've said before, I do like the emphasis Joe's reaction puts on Nicky's kindness. Joe has a complete inability to cope with Nicky simply Not Being Kind. It speaks to the steadiness of Nicky's compassion all those years. but still that fact doesn't make it the conflict feel worth it

hm. I said I would be brief and I wasn't.

oh well. basically I thought there was interesting conflict potential there but it wasn't done the way I would've liked, and the way it was done leaves a lot of disturbing (and again probably unintended) interpretations to lie.

What I did like? Andy and Joe having that pessimist/optimist dynamic. Joe nerding out about science. Andy not being impressed by The Achievements Of Man. I loved Booker needling at Nicky about his outdated slang and also trying to give him Older Brother advice practically in the same breath. I loved Booker giving The Worst relationship advice ever and Nicky being like 'I Will Not Do That, Ever, Thanks.' the family vibes were so good. The Joenicky vibes left a lot to be desired tho.

11 Love Letters

I talked about my problems with Nicky in this story (and Lacus Solitudinis). I don't know, the story isn't bad but I do hold a little bit of a grudge towards it because its very existence begs the existence of a solo Joe story and we didn't get one. If we never got this story, then we could happily count Lacus Solitudinis and Zanzibar as The Joenicky Stories™ and move on with our lives. sigh.

I remember when we first got the blurb for this story I was really curious about why Nicky specifically + the setting, and the answer kind of feels like 'the author had an idea for a story like this and saw ttt as a good enough place to utilize that idea'. Plus I was really underwhelmed by the Romantic Sentiment in the letter. If you look at it line-by-line, the majority of the letter is actually Nicky talking about how lonely and disturbed he is, rather than actual,, yknow,,, Romantic Sentiment. I mean, compare the van speech and this letter and this letter is just kind of meh in comparison. I liked nicky calling joe wise! and I liked the brief sun/moon metaphor! and otherwise it was eh. It didn't even have cute squad banter, which is why Lacus Solitudinis is above this one.

12 An Old Soul

Nun orgy. Nun orgy?????? Nun orgy.......

The whole story felt like a setup to have a nun orgy. Why did Booker have abs? Why did they do that to Andy's nose? ?????? the art was good at least.

nun orgy.

#tales through time spoilers #obviously #long post #seriously dont open that read more unless youre committed to scrolling past all these Words

[allisas]

Catscratch Crafts & Café - CC Free

Thanks to the EA Game Changer program for providing me with a copy of this new pack!

Right at the center of Brindleton Bay the two oldest buildings in town still stand strong and colorful right on the dock. They've housed many things throughout the years but nothing has come close in popularity compared to the Catscratch Crafts & Café. These two businesses provide the coziest atmosphere and are super cat friendly. Come hang out! If you're really loving it you might even be interested in renting the upstairs apartment?

Info: Lot type: Café (can be changed to retail) Lot Size: 20x15 Lot Traits: Cat Hangout, Peace & Quiet, Cat Friendly Location: Catscratch Cottage, Brindleton Bay

Used Packs:

EP’s: Get to Work, Get Together, Cats & Dogs, Seasons, Get Famous, Island Living, Discover University, Eco Lifestyle GP’s: Outdoor Retreat, Dine Out, Parenthood, Jungle Adventure, Realm of Magic SP’s: Perfect Patio, Movie Hangout, Backyard, Fitness, Laundry Day, My First Pet, Tiny Living, Nifty Knitting

Download at the Gallery: Origin ID - Allisasims or #Allisas Download Tray-files: Simfileshare

Some thoughts on the pack below the cut!

Nifty Knitting thoughts:

This pack has me so conflicted! I love the knitting, the animations, the cross pack features, the baby onesies, all the age groups getting something new (when did this happen last time?!). Basically I love the gameplay features the pack comes with. But geez do I find the items hard to love. 

I knew when the pastel dream art style won the vote that it wouldn’t really be up my alley but I didn’t know that it be this bad! 😂 The swatches are just all over the place and the brown wood swatch doesn’t match a n y t h i n g we have in game. The saving throw is that they’ve started to always include black and white neutral swatches since a couple of packs back. 🙏 

The build/buy catalog is a literal mess too because so many of the assets are locked in debug and therefore all swatches turn up as separate items and can’t be design tool’d or cloned. 😭 Even though I’m happy that they’ve added the hanging plants for all three wall heights it just gives me a headache to browse through them all. 

I don’t care much for the clothes or hairs, other than the locs hair because we desperately need more of that and also the knitted socks because that’s real cute. I’m quite over knitted sweaters by now to be honest. Can’t blame the clothes on anyone but the community though since we voted on them. I still stand by my previous comments though, I’d been fine if all CAS assets were hats, scarfs and socks. 😘

In summary: Love the gameplay, frustrated with build/buy, meh feelings about CAS. 

#ea game changers #eagamechangers #the sims 4 #ts4 #the sims 4 nifty knitting #sims 4 download #sims 4 lot #ts4mm

[doomednarrative]

I’m doing this for fun simply because I'm rewatching them all so,

Here's my personal ranking for Every Gorillaz Music video, based both on song and the video itself:

(This is going to be a long post)

PHASE ONE:

Tomorrow Comes Today: 7/10. I love this song and the video fits its vibe, but its still pretty simplistic and not a whole lot of actual animation and no story, so it gets points off for that.

Clint Eastwood: 10/10. I love this one honestly. Its still so charming after all this time and showcases the band well for their early days. Love the more moody tone of it, and I always love seeing the band actually play instruments in their videos too. Bonus points for Murdoc's laugh opening this one because I love that.

Rock The House: 9/10. Pure fun. I don't have a lot of commentary for it, I just think its fun and I love the song itself too. One point off for Murdoc thrusting his hips too many times for my eyes tho.

19-2000: 10/10. This one was the first Gorillaz video that I saw and it really is just a nice non plot connected video. The 3D animation still manages to hold up because of its mix with 2D animation in my opinion and I enjoy it.

Rockit: 5/10. I like the song but the video is kinda meh.

PHASE ONE MV'S OVERALL: Overall I like phase one and I miss Del. Bring him back.

PHASE TWO:

Dirty Harry: 8/10. 2D is just vibing so hard in this video and I'm living for it. That’s all that matters. (Side note but I love the version of this video they did for the BRIT's as well.)

DARE: 10/10. Noodles time to shine, a perfect song, what more could you ask for?? (Also love the bit with Murdoc at the end of course.)

Feel Good Inc: 10/10. This one is obvious if you know me at all. Murdoc playing his bass is what sells this one for me cause I enjoy the animation. The songs amazing and one I find comforting to listen to, and the mood of the video fits it perfectly. Theres some really fun shots with lighting while 2D is standing at the window too in the tower in here that I've always liked.

El Mañana: 6/10. I love this song but it makes me sad and so does the video.

PHASE TWO MV'S OVERALL: Phase One is iconic for its art style and for being The Beginning, but Phase Two is my favorite of the two for its art. I love how these videos are animated, and even if Demon Dayz is my least favorite album, the songs in these videos are all very good. Pretty solid as a whole all things considered.

PHASE THREE:

Stylo: 10/10 LISTEN, I KNOW SOME PEOPLE HATE THE CGI, BUT I LOVE IT. It’s so expressive, this song is one of my absolute faves, I’m sorry to be such a Murdoc liker but hes so much fun in this video and so expressive and it starts the story off for Plastic Beach. I love it so much.

On Melancholy Hill: 7/10. It’s not a bad video, and I love the song a lot, but...not a lot actually happens in the video aside from the bits with Noodle. Bonus points however go to just how seamlessly it puts 2D and 3D animation together, and for how cute 2D looks this whole video.

Rhinestone Eyes: 9/10. WOULD BE A 10/10 IF WE’D GOTTEN OFFICIAL ANIMATION FOR IT ;-; (The fan animated video for it tho is Very very good and i applaud that whole team.) Amazing song, this video has the most story packed into it so far from all the other videos and it’s memorable from its storyboards for that alone.

Doncamatic: 10/10 Listen...Listen I know its a one off and it doesn't really have anything in it but I’m obsessed because its one of my favorite Gorillaz songs tbh and I love Daley’s outfit in it so it gets a full pass from it.

PHASE THREE MV’S OVERALL: I love every video this phase tbh, none of them are bad. All of them are fun,and even if Melancholy Hill is a little slow, it’s still enjoyable. I love this phase because they all connect and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way either.

PHASE FOUR:

Hallelujah Money: 7/10. It’s not at all bad, but I’m as not fond of this song, and the video itself is much too trippy for me. Still has its own merits tho that I won’t knock it for even if it’s not my personal taste.

Saturn Barz: 10/10. Everything about this video is amazing. Character designs and as a comeback for the bands animated counterparts, it was perfect. I loved hearing them actually speak again too it made the whole thing so fun. The song is fuckin awesome and it fits the vibe of the whole video. Bonus points for the more lineless animation style they gave everyone in this video, it was a really neat change from past phases. My one complaint is again stop making me see so much naked Murdoc, I may like him but not like that.

Sleeping Powder: 6/10. I am so split when it comes to the mo cap models. This songs good but the video is again too trippy for me.

Strobalite: 9/10. Would have been 10/10 if Russel got to dance with 2D and Noodle, but other than that its pretty damn good. The mo cap looks way less awkward in here, particularly Murdoc and Russel. Also hilarious that Murdoc made a deal with the devil, and the guy who played him is actually his voice actor irl. This songs too much fun to vibe to as well.

PHASE FOUR MV’S OVERALL: Not much for story, but makes up for it in updated art and great music again. Solid overall yet again. I like it.

PHASE FIVE:

Humility: 20/10. Literally every single person I know who’s seen this video loved it. The animation is Beautiful, the song is so fuckin catchy, Jack Black is in it! What more do you want!! (The only thing I could have asked for was to see more of Ace but that’s its only flaw.)

Tranz: 9/10. I love this song so much but this video is Again just a little too trippy for me. However, we get to see Ace just jamming out in this video and I’ll take the trippiness just for that.

PHASE FIVE MV’S OVERALL: I was surprised there wasn't at least one more video for this phase honestly? I feel like Kansas or Souk Eye would have made for great videos for this phase. That aside tho, both the videos it does have are a lot of fun. My literal only complaint is that I wanted to see more of Ace. Bring him back in the future.

PHASE SIX:

Momentary Bliss: 8/10. This songs fine, but what sells it for me is the video is more slice of life/a day in the life of the studio. I’m always a fan of those moments. Bonus points goes to Murdoc trying to fuckin poison Jamie and it backfiring on him.

Désolé: 10/10: ooooh this song is so beautiful...I love it so much. 2D Noodle and Russel got to have such a fun time in this video and they deserve it. And poor Murdoc, having his little sad times by his asshole self. I love him but I think he deserved it. The others needed a good break from the bullshit and I’m glad they got it.

Aries: 6/10. Video itself is kinda boring, but the song is nice. Murdoc deserved to be left behind in Désolé after what he tried to pull here.

Friday the 13th: 3/10. I don’t care for this video and I really don’t care for the song. Not much else to say.

PAC-MAN: 6/10. Video’s fine, I like some of the little details in it, but it’s nothing special. The song itself is nice tho, super calming, I like it.

Strange Timez: 20/20 MY GOD I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH...VISUALS ARE SO FUN, I LOVE ROBERT SMITH SO I LOVE HIM IN HERE, ITS JUST A GOOD TIME ALL AROUND!

The Pink Phantom: 5/10 I just don’t really care for this song?? I like Elton John but I couldn’t get myself to like this one no matter how many times I’ve listened. 2D got to be happy in this video tho so I’ll give it a pass.

The Valley of the Pagans: 6/10. This song fuckin slaps but the video feels like a boring redo of 19-2000 except for it’s ending. It gets points for giving everyone Plastic Beach feelings at the end and hyping up the video after it.

The Lost Chord: 20/20. Y’all knew this was coming. This was something I’d BEEN hoping for story wise and I finally got it. Was it maybe a little rushed? Yes. But GOD it was such a nice thing to see them say “hey we’ve wrapped up this part of the story for good and want everyone to move on from it, so we’ve given it a properly acknowledged final send off.” And tangibly seeing everyone's emotions laid out about the island and their times there was very nice. And  I know Jamie and Damon have stated Murdoc is irredeemable, blah blah yes I know hes an asshole still, but I WILL think about Murdoc in this video and how he seemed actually regretful and what that means to me and the fact that it was no one else but 2D himself being the one to reach out to Murdoc in the end to save him until my dying breath, thank you very much. And this song?? Fuckin beautiful, it had those Plastic Beach vibes again and felt good for it’s send off song, I love it.

PHASE SIX MV’S OVERALL: I may be a little split on some of them and on Song Machine as a whole, but tbh I love the phase six art style so much and most times the videos were pretty good. Bringing back PB in the end was something I always wanted too so it really does get bonus points from me for that. I’m 50/50 on them overall. The great ones are great, and the meh ones are just kinda boring, so it evens out in the end.

STAND ALONE VIDEOS MENTION:

Do Ya Thing: 10/10. I’ve said before I love the 3D animation and the slice of life stuff, so this one’s obviously a favorite, and you really cant go wrong with an Andre 3000 feature either. 

Superfast Jellyfish: 3/10. This song is kinda fun but I don’t give a single shit about the music video.

Garage Palace: 8/10. Very fun pixel visuals for a change along with a killer song, super enjoyable.

So what’s my final verdict on Gorillaz and their long music video history?

Honestly for a group thats been going as long as they have, I dont think they have too many misses in their catalog. The ones that aren’t as fun are just kinda there, but the videos that really stand out stand out far above the ones that don’t hit the mark as well and in the end it all feels like a good balance. No band has a perfect video every time, but the ones that Gorillaz did well they did amazing on and I enjoy it immensely when that happens.

Sidenotes after watching all of those:

For the love of god please put Russel in the videos more, please, he deserves it and I would love to see him more.

On that note, BRING DEL BACK WITH HIM TOO!!

And speaking of characters to bring back, I want Ace to come back and join Murdoc sometimes, even if its only once or twice more, I need to see them interact PLEASE.

Last note but Jamie, please, I’m begging, show less of mostly naked or fully naked of Murdoc in future videos, we’ve had our fill by now.

#can you tell im hyperfixating again??? anyways #kief rambles about gorillaz #gorillaz #this was fun but good lord

[mousechuckles]

tagged by @yungtano thank you friend!! <3

~Why did you choose your url?~

A lot of people mispronounce my last name as rats laugh so I made a silly little wordplay out of it! Plus I love mice!

~Any side blogs? if you have them: name them and why you have them~

I have an old blog that I made when this account was just for posting art! And a graphic design blog! But I'm not too active with them at the moment!

~How long have you been on tumblr?~

Uhhh I've been lurking on here since maybe 2012? But I only started posting things since last September I think?

~Do you have a queue tag?~

I don't! There's not a lot of organization to this blog... I do queue things because I don't want to spam people with posts, tho!

~Why did you start your blog in the first place?~

I wanted to share art! I had thought about it for a while, but the final push was an artist I really admire talking about how posting on different sites could be super beneficial!

~Why did you choose your icon?~

It's one of the few self portraits that I'm actually really happy with!

~Why did you choose your header?~

Ahh I'm just a bit too proud of that ahsoka ;_;

~How many mutuals do you have?~

I'm not sure! 20 something maybe? I don't knoooo

~How many followers do you have?~

755

~How many people do you follow?~

215

~Have you ever made a shit post?~

Ahhh I don't think so actually!

~How often do you use tumblr each day?~

Oof it varies! Somedays I don't at all? Average it out and say 4ish!

~Did you have a fight/argument with another blog once? Who won?~

Ahaha no I haven't... I'm not big on conflict 0.0

~How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?~

Meh... I don't mind too much! I think I curate my experience enough that I don't get that many!

~Do you like tag games?~

Yes! They're fun!

~Do you like ask games?~

Yep!

~Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?~

I genuinely have no clue...

~Do you have a crush on a mutual?~

Literally all of THEM. You are all so sweet and I'm so so thankful to have met so many kind friends <3 I'm blowing a kiss to you all!!

No pressure tags! @1flyingcat @blsmjoon @squiglylines

#tina talks #tag game

[cherryonigiri]

Matsukawa with a swimmer!S/O

Anon asked: hello if it’s possible could i get a matchup? i’m a 5’11 girl with brown hair and brown eyes, and i’m on the more broad and slim thick side because i’ve been swimming competitively my entire life. i’m an aries, and have major rbf, and people are often intimated by me until they get to know me. to my friends i am the designated mom, while also being a crackhead. i would absolutely fight anyone for my friends, and have the martial arts training to back that up. i’m competitive and energetic often work myself till exhaustion, and that comes from being an endurance athlete who knows no bounds. i’ve got a high pain tolerance, and have a hard time trusting people at first. i’m loud and crazy, addicted to memes, and always happy to help others. i’ve oftentimes been insecure about my height, and avoided wearing shoes that increase it, but am learning to accept that i am beautiful by rocking some new platform boots. i don’t cry easy, and am always a shoulder to lean on thanks 💖💖💖

A/N: Hi anon - omg i’m so happy that you are proud of your height- rock whatever shoes make you feel amazing 💞mwah. 

Your matchup is:

Matsukawa Issei

You and Matsukawa would be an amazing couple - you both vibe off your share crackhead/meme team energy 

Your outgoing personality and loudness balances out with Matsukawa’s more chill vibe - you encourage him to be a little more energetic and he melows you out 

Both of you have pretty intimidating faces/expressions, so the two of you collectively have a reputation around school of being a ‘scary couple’

But deep down you two are so wholesome you’re basically the second team mom (after Iwa) and you always look after the younger ones (ie. save them from Oikawa’s craziness)

When you first met the team the first years were terrified of you but quickly warmed up to you because of your friendly and helpful nature 

Will help them out with homework + give them study tips if they need it - since you’ve been through first/second year already you might as well pass some helpful tips onto your kouhai!

Mattsun is meh about PDA - he’s not gonna be embarrassed that you two kiss in public, but he’s not going to go out of his way to flaunt his relationship 

I mean he might purposefully kiss you in front of the team just to mess with them annoy Oikawa/Hanamaki but other than that he’s chill - whatever you’re feeling up to he’ll appreciate

Very playful when it’s just the two of you - he will initiate tickle wars, pillow fights etc. 

His favorite thing is to just pull you into his lap or so that you’re leaning against him. He does this anywhere - during lunch with the other Seijoh 3rd years, at home, during practice breaks.

Since both of you are athletes you sometimes workout together - he’s been trying to up his stamina/work on cardio so the two of you will sometimes go on runs or swim laps together

Mattsun is a confident guy okay, he has zero issues with you wearing shoes that might make you taller than him - he just praises you to high heaven talking about amazing you look

Like will take a mirror selfie of the two of you and send it to his gc being like ‘yeah look here’s my super badass amazing girlfriend who looks great in her heels, yes she is taller than me and I love it, at least I have an s/o @oikawa :P’ 

Since you both practice until late at school, you two tend to walk home together, and will often stop at the local store to grab a snack 

The two of you do the best to attend each other’s swim meets/volleyball games - sometimes you have to miss them because you have tournaments at the same time or have mandatory practice

But if you’re able to make it you for sure are gonna be cheering as loud as you can 

You straight up cackled when you heard Matsukawa tell Oikawa he was paying for ramen if he messed up his serve 50% of your texts with Mattsun are memes or inside jokes - other people could literally read your messages as you type them and still have no idea wtf is going on between you and your boyfriend

After you’ve been dating for a while, Mattsun figures out your tendencies to overwork yourself or keep working until you almost pass out

He’s genuinely concerned and wants you to get some rest - and if you’re really busy he’ll scrap the date in town in favor of a movie night/lazy day at home so you can get some of that tender loving care from him + rest and relaxation

May or may not ask Iwaizumi about how he convinces Oikawa not to overdo it eyebrow man wants you to take care of yourself 

#haikyuu #haikyuu matchups #haikyuu imagines #hq matchups #matsukawa issei #matsukawa x reader #matsukawa issei x reader #seijoh #aoba johsai #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu hcs #hq hcs

[struwwelzeter]

Ich Will Making Of Liveblog

Ah, the perfection. Top 3 of all Rammstein videos for me, I love this video so damn much, I can’t put it in words. Perfect story, perfect cinematography, perfect design, and don’t they all just look flawless?!! I mean they literally don’t but. Till and Richard coming out of that bus haunt me, Paul twirling elegantly and evily haunts me, Flake’s hair haunts me, Schneider’s eye?!!!! Mohawk Olli?! What the hell?!

Being part of a gang is this deep unfulfilled childhood dream of mine that I could still cry about not coming true, I am so stupidly jealous of them.

I also want to shoot a sniper rifle. I mean I am pro extreme gun control, the arms industries are actual evil, etc. etc. but I still

really want to shoot a sniper rifle, ok. You never know when you’re gonna need that shit.

You know, I start to think that the Mutter drama didn’t actually happen so much consciously during the recording, but after, when everyone was holding grudges about maybe unfilled wishes for that album? I mean it seems to come to head on the tour that followed it more than anything, because in the Sonne making of they were still so positive and here aswell.

I often wonder how especially Richard feels about that Album being the “crisis album” when he clearly is so proud of it at least here? That’s so sad, no? That something so artistically great becomes this carrier of ... idk, I’m gonna say bad vibes although that is very much not eloquent. I mean it objectively is their best album, or? I’d love to ask them all how they feel about it today.

I mean yes, a huge part of it is the make up, but god they do seem tired or is that just me. I mean, they must be jet lagged.

Oli talking is so delightful.

The whole “it’s just theory” on record from Schneider is so weird to me, like it’s actually not?

The “playing for that one person” thing is one of my if not the favorite Paul quotes. It just warms my heart and makes me feel so appreciated as a fan.

The never ending “crowds are better in southamerica” yes ok how about yiu just ban phones oh wait this was before phones blahhh

Till acknowledging that communicating with the audience is actually touching also warms my heart very much. Stay as you are friend, and do it without giving boring speaches, yes, yum!

“My ear”

God they were a bit snobby huh (in a cute way), “des wär mir n bisschen zu doof ehrlich gesagt” Yes, but fuuun

The whole Du Hast part 2 is so real, I couldn’t tell those two songs apart for years, also shit up about how good they look Anna

Richard being cute about wanting to be gangster though let me have that yes

The tragic thing about this video and the whole violence thing is that this was released a few weeks before 9/11 and then it was banned afterwards because it was considered tone deaf with the terrorist/body bomb thing. The same thing happend to Juli and that Die Perfekte Welle song after the Tsunami, and 8 get it but meh, not their fault maybe.

Also, does anyone else relate so hard to the “we don’t know what the audiebce will react negatively to, the things we think are bad are tine and small thinks drives them crazy?” Because yes, like how are people offended by one thing and not by another and why does it follow zero logical pattern it’s so stupid.

Oh Richard. “The music is enough.” Yes, yes it is honey, the rest is just the cherry.

The kid reanacting the helicopter in front of the TV is the most brilliant underrated fact about this video.

Hazardous communication mode, I love him so much.

I mean what they are essentially saying is it’s one huge provocation right? Because fame/attention through provocation is actually so interesting. I started researching this some time ago because I do wonder why people like to provoke, and the thing is, it’s poweplay. Provoking someone means controlling their emotions, and the people most likely to want to provoke are people that have had no emotional power over someone in the oast. That sounds super negative, but it’s just typically people who nobody cared for. If you’re sad, someone is supposed to react to that. If you’re angry someone is supposed to care about that. If you’re happy someone is supposed to share it with you. Provocation is the tool with which neglected children take their power back and there is something very satisfactory about that. Gaslight me? How about I offend the fuck out of you as revenge?

Which makes it interesting because I think when Rammstein say “we’re not out to provoke” what they mean is “we’re not out to do harm” because I am 99% certain they get a kick out of the right people being mad at times.

But yeah, the misunderstanding must hurt too.

Contradicting? Idk, my brain makes no sense.

Whenever the whole “disfigurement used to imply evil” thing comes up I have this Tyrion Lannister quote in my head “there’s a tender spot in my heart for cripples and bastards and broken things” or something like that because yea - no real context but yeah.

God that video really is so good.

“Mal sehen wer sich erschreckt” - exactly, because who gets scared probably says more about the person getting scared of it than the people making the art.

I feel like there is a lot more to unravel about this video than it seems like, and non of this was coherrent, sorry, that’s why it’s called liveblog.

https://youtu.be/ofBrBeYVCAA

#liveblog #struwwel liveblogs #rammstein #ich will #Youtube

[totallypathet]

Episode 8

A rusical, okay! We like a rusical. Interesting how they've done it this year though, I don't think they've ever done a rusical where they weren't either singing live or lipsyncing to a pre-arranged track of vocals. Half of me thinks it would have been better if they'd just sung it live, but then I guess they couldn't have done the OTT choreo.

The rusical itself was a little weird, some of the writing was just odd, and the "jokes" really weren't that funny. Anyway, let's talk about it!

1. Denali

I was worried for Denali this week! It happens so often on this show where we see queens say "I don't understand why I've only been safe I have to really up my game this week" and then they promptly get the judges attention in all the wrong ways and get sent home. I also kind of think Rosé did her a massive favour by refusing to give her the role they fought over (I can't even remember the names, they were all bizarre), because I think Denali would have got so in her head about that role and just wouldn't have been able to let go and have fun like she did.

After the Anne Hathaway call though, she just seemed so much happier and more relaxed, and she kind of just went into it with a much better attitude and she killed it! She did an awesome job in the rusical, it was fun to see her play a sort of grungy, messy character because she's so polished usually. She did an amazing job, and she deserved to be in the top this week!

Her look for me was a little bit meh, I just wish the snake headpiece had been bigger and bolder. From a distance it kind of looked like noodles. But it was still good, she still looked great, and I'm proud of her!

2. Elliott

Why is Elliott still there? I don't get it. She should have gone last week, and then this week her performance was just okay, and her look was a worse version of Tina's.

She should have been lipsyncing for me, or at least in the bottom three! I don't get what they see in her.

3. Gottmik

Gottmik was great this week! I loved her performance, again it was fun watching her do something outside her comfort zone, she's not really known for being a dancer, so it was cool to see that. I really like that she really genuinely gave that her absolute best, like she knew she wasn't a great dancer but she worked really hard to get that choreography, and she did it great!

Her look was stunning, obviously! Gottmik and Symone are carrying the runway fashion this season. It was very cool, very conceptual, very Gottmik.

I dont know that I necessarily would have put her in the top this week. I think she was great, but I actually think Tina should have been in the top - which is something I never thought I'd say!

4. Kandy Muse

I feel like Kandy was mostly just unfortunate this week.

I think her recorded track was great - I did think there were to many vocal effects on it, but that's not really her choice, she can't blame her. I also think she's not a bad dancer, but I think she was thrown off to some extent by her wardrobe choices - the wig got in the way too much, and the skirt seemed to be a bit restricting, it just doesn't seem like she thought those choices through very well. It wasn't her best performance, but I also don't think it was a bad performance, which is kind of why I think she was just unfortunate.

Her runway this week I think was stunning. I feel like every week I say she's never looked prettier, but honestly this week she looked so pretty!! I loved the daisy's in her hair, and that long wig was so stunning with all that gorgeous fabric, I just loved it.

I think it's right that she was in the bottom, but again I don't think she did a bad job this week, I think she just delivered an average performance, when most of the other queens had a good performance.

5. Olivia Lux

Another great week for Olivia! She has such a stunning voice I was so excited to hear her do more singing. I kind of think she should have been in the tip three, but again I am biased, as an Olivia Stan 😂

My only real criticism of her this week was her outfit in the rusical? I get that she was a tech student, and I think she was just going for a casual look, it's just kind of unfortunate that it came off boring instead. I kind of wish she'd leaned into a more student look, and done like, stained sweatpants, and a really messy bun. Actually, it would have been really funny if, you know like you see art students with messy buns and a pencil through it? If she'd have done a messy bun and like a computer mouse through it or something! But overall her performance was incredible.

She always brings it on the runway as well, she brings these kind of pageant gowns, but in a really beautiful and modern way? I love it. I loved the big puff sleeve, I loved the fringe, she looked stunning.

6. Rosé

Rosé made me so happy this week! Her voice is so incredible, that Don't Rain on My Parade pastiche literally gave me chills! She is talented as hell, and I'm glad the judges are seeing it.

Her performance was really incredible - she's an incredible singer, and a great dancer - but I have a similar thing as Olivia about her outfit in the rusical? It just seemed like kind of an odd choice. I didn't get until like halfway through that she was meant to be like "the slutty friend", I just didn't really get that from her look. When the dress kept riding up it just looked like a mistake, you know what I mean? Again, it's a nitpick - they probably didn't have a whole lot of outfit choices for this challenge because they didn't know their roles before they came.

I loved her runway look as well! I loved the Mask reference, the only thing I wish is that she'd had a big hat, instead of that tiny fascinator. I'm so nitpick today, honestly! I just sort of wish she'd walked out with a big hat pulled right down and then revealed the green face when she hit the end of the runway. But that's just me! I did think it was stunning. I also don't think it was orange? Like it was the orange side of yellow, but it was definitely still yellow!

I'm really glad she won this challenge, she deserved it so much!

7. Symone

Symone had a bit of a rough week, and I feel for her. She really struggled with her vocals, and look not everyone is a singer, that's okay! But I can see how much she got I her head having seen other queens absolutely kill their vocals, and I think she just felt really insecure about it. I do kind of think it's unfair that they record their vocals in front of everyone else. When it's a team challenge, it makes sense, but when they're competing as individuals it just seems unfair and literally designed to make the queens who aren't singers feel bad!

Also, sidenote, they recors vocals in this huge, wide open runway room, that can't be good acoustics in which to record vocals, surely. In earlier seasons they seemed to use (at least something akin to) a recording studio? I'm confused.

Anyway, it was tough to watch this week, because she really did just get in her head about it, and it affected her whole performance. She wasn't having a good time, and that was rough. I do think part of the problem is that she was wearing sunglasses during the performance? When the audience can't see your eyes it's really difficult for them to connect with you while you're performing. It was just a shame.

Her runway look though! Honestly, her and Gottmik are going to need physio after carrying the whole of the fashion for season 13 on their backs! It was so stunning, that big coat, and the suspenders; she looked so cool and fashionable, I just immediately forgave the rest of her performance!

Unfortunately, I do think she deserved to be in the bottom this week, but I really hope she can pull back up to being the Symone we all know and love next week!

8. Tina Burner

I actually really liked Tina this week! I've been very underwhelmed with Tina this season, but I actually think she did a great job this week! I loved her very Liza Minelli rusical performance (and look), she was giving me that very old Broadway half talking, half singing; and I think it was great! Okay Michelle, she stopped lipsyncing like 2 seconds before the track when she died, but she really performed her track, and she sang it really well!

And then her runway look was great! It was campy, but it was also beautiful! It was fitted beautifully, it was cut beautifully, she looked stunning, the headlights on the tits was hilarious - and I noticed after the lipsync that those were actual lights! They actually lit up! So cute! And finally she wore something other than a red wig, and she looked so beautiful! Her face was gorgeous, the hair was perfect, it was great. So polished.

She did not at all deserve to be bottom three this week - especially not when Elliott with 3 Ks was safe.

9. Utica

I feel like my opinion on Utica goes up and down all the Time. Sometimes I think she's great, and other times I just feel kind of bored by her.

This week I was a little bored. I think she did well delivering that track, that's a tough vocal part. That's it.

Maybe that's not super fair. I just think her actual performance was a bit boring, and her facial expressions are genuinely becoming hard to watch. I am not looking forward to watching her lipsync when she lands in the bottom two.

I also hated hated hated her runway look this week. I know she was going for this medieval thing and she explained the cutout sides and all that, but it was ugly. And not even in a cool way of being ugly but fashionable, or so ugly that it's pretty; it was just fuck ugly.

I think it was right that she was safe, her performance was better than Kandy, Symone and Elliott, but her runway look was definitely the worst.

This week was kind of a weird one, because I really really didn't understand the judging criteria this week. I am still baffled that Elliott was safe, I'm baffled that she's still there at all, honestly. I'm also still shocked about Tina being in the bottom?! I don't get it.

I am kind of glad it was a double shantay this week - I just kind of feel like neither Kandy nor Symone actually did a bad enough job to go home this week.

Having said that, it is getting very tiring that there is still so many queens there! 8 episodes and only 4 queens have gone home? How long is this fucking series going to be???

#drag race #rpdr #rpdr13 #drag race season 13 #denali #denali foxx #elliott with 2 ts #gottmik #kandy muse #olivia lux #rose #symone #tina burner #utica #utica queen

[hapuriainen]

Hapuriainen's Animation & Comics & Games of 2020

It is again time for the annual compilation!

Manga:

Attack on Titan

I'm so sad this is so close to end... It's been my main thing for a few years now. Eren definitely didn't take the route I expected but I still find this consistent with his character and a bold and interesting move from the author.

(My notes say I also finished the jr high spin-off manga but it's not worth talking about)

Awards given: Best Side Girl (I still like Gabi, haters gonna hate), Best Boy (ditto Eren)

One Piece, My Hero Academia My interest in OP is still at an all-time low and I'm just waiting for the arc to end. There are so many characters and I have little idea what their deal is, Carrot hasn't been interesting in ages and currently Yamato is the only character I care for. Same for HeroAca; at least the excruciatingly long action scene is finally over.

Undead Unluck New Jump series! I think the main duo have a really good dynamic, but they're pretty much the only thing I care about and I'm very lost with what the plot is actually supposed to be about.

Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro

I like detective stories so here's one from the Assassination Classroom creator! The detective stuff itself could get rather nonsensical and as the story progressed more and more fantasy elements were added, but the titular character was entertaining enough to keep me interested. The viewpoint character was refreshingly (for a Jump series) a girl and her dynamic with Neuro (an ordinary schoolgirl and an arrogant amoral troll demon) was great.

Awards given: Best non-romantic relationship (Neuro & Yako)

Spy x Family

Super fun and the characters are cute!  The main couple has such great chemistry and in general I enjoy following characters who are really competent at their job. Not surprised that this has become hugely popular.

Awards given: Best romance (it is rare to get me to ship anything but the main couple here is just so cute)

Delicious in Dungeon

This manga has amazing character design and the author clearly loves to play around with it, like by drawing each character as each other's races, or making clones of everyone but each clone is a little different so you can guess which is the real one with the characters, and there's so much thought put to the outfits too. And then there's of course all the worldbuilding around how an RPG dungeon and the creatures in it could work, but it's presented simply enough that the story is still easy to follow. I also like the upbeat atmosphere; maybe I could get a bit more emotionally involved if there was more drama, but I still really like this as it is.

Awards given: Best character designs

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

Reread one of my favourite manga ever and it's still just as good. I love how the manga still has a positive vibe to it, under it there is the quiet melancholy of a world that is close to ending. And it's wonderful how uninterested the story is answering any of the worldbuilding questions it sets up.

Beastars

This was incredibly interesting in how it presented an animal society where the carnivore-herbivore differences couldn't be just explained away with "the differences don't really exist", and the story looks at this from so many different angles. Pairs really well with Zootopia for a completely different approach. Louis was a really interesting character with how he publicly managed to appear as if he was a good candidate to be the next ambassador for the peace between the animals but was actually very cold and broken inside, and I really liked his breakdown moment. The ending was pretty meh though.

Awards given: Best Side Boy (Louis)

Kannagi

This one has really cute character designs but apart from that it's a pretty generic harem story. Except for the twist that the main girl already had been involved with a boy which caused otaku to shred their manga or whatever. I believe I would have enjoyed this more if it finished back when it went to hiatus since at this point it didn't do much for me.

Witch Hat Atelier

The main girl is the kind of heroic, friendly, plucky goody-two-shoes protagonist I really don't like but apart from that this is a great manga. I love the art, and the way the magic works is really well set up but also easy to understand. Great outfits too!

Anime:

This year I learned that in order to clear stuff from your anime watch list you need to actually watch anime. So unexpectedly I think I watched a lot more different series than usual.

Attack on Titan

It was my plan to watch seasons 1-3 before jumping on board with the last one, and of course I dragged my feet for the entire year and had to marathon the whole thing in autumn. I still prefer the manga, but the anime does have great colours, soundtrack and voice acting and some of the action scenes were amazing. But I really hate what they did to Historia in season 3... The final season has been excellent so far and I can't wait for the big scene in the next episode.

Awards given: Best OP (all the Linked Horizon ones)

Ouran High School Host Club

Haruhi continues to be one of the best girls in the anime and manga industry ever with her confident and no-nonsense attitude, and Tamaki's oblivious and overflowing friendliness makes for a great counterpart to her. And the opening theme is so darn catchy.

Awards given: Best Girl (Haruhi)

Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Finally managed to watch this. I love the iconic character designs and all the chaotic energy. Kamina for best bro. I've never cared for mecha, the girls were nice but the writing around them sucked and the second half wasn't as strong as the first one, but still a good package overall.

Awards given: Best ED (don't care for the song that much but Simon looks somehow really cool in the second ending)

Haibane Renmei

Another one that had been on the watch list for years. A lovely quiet and contemplative show. Visuals were rather dull though but maybe it's better for a show like this that the characters didn't have bubblegum pink hair.

Digimon Adventure 2020

This started promising but has since lost steam. I really like how different the story is from the original Digimon Adventure, and compared to Precure it's super nice how not every episode has the exact same structure, and the cast has different roles and regularly gets split up instead of shoehorning everyone into every conflict. But on the other hand the characters feel way more samey and flat, and the original "kids want to return to their home from the Digital World" plot was a lot more personal than the current one about global crises and prophecy jargon. And some of the action scenes last way too long.

Awards given: Worst side boy (Agumon and his evolutions, it is of course expected that he'd get a lot of screen time but I'm so over how much he's constantly pushed in your face in the franchise)

Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii Desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii Desu ka?

This wasn't afwul but still left me kind of cold. I think the character designs were a problem here, in general I'm used to brightly coloured anime characters but this was trying to be a very serious story about child soldiers who know they're going to die young. But when they were colour-coded and always wore the same clothes (and mostly had pretty generic animu girl personalities) they felt so artificial which made it harder to get into the drama. Nice OP song.

Yashahime

Inuyasha was my first show after really getting into anime so I was super hyped for any kind of new content. So far this has unfortunately been rather dull since I'm not particularly interested in either of Sesshoumaru's daughters, and the way the show treats the absence of the old cast is annoying. Just either show them or make it clear we're not supposed to care about them, now it's just annoying how their disappearance is treated as a mystery but the three heroines know barely anything about their heritage and don't even seem interested in learning either. But I'll watch this to the end for Moroha.

Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angels, Twin Angel Break, Pretear, Happy Seven, Healin' Good Precure

Watched a lot of magical girl stuff this year too, these being shows that play the tropes straight. The Twin Angel seasons had different flaws but were otherwise watchable aside from the awful Twin Angel Break heroine. Pretear had surprisingly nice character writing and I feel I would really have liked this if I saw it at an earlier part of my anime hobby experience but now it doesn't feel so special any more. Healin' Good Precure has been rather dull.

I also watched a bunch of Precure movies, out of which only the Star Twinkle Precure one was actually good, and the Spring Carnival crossover movie was also good in an absurd way, while the rest ranged from awful to somewhat decent.

Awards given: Worst girl (Meguru - Twin Angel Break), Biggest WTF (Happy Seven suddenly going from monster of the week shenaningans to alien mass destruction weapons)

Concrete Revolutio, Myriad Colors Phantom World, Re:Creators

Also some anime where the magical girl was a side character. Concrete Revolutio was an unpleasant mess with nice visuals, Myriad Colors was a pretty boring otaku high school harem thing and the magical girl episode was also rather bland, and Re:Creators had a lot of potential with the "anime characters come to our world" setting but the result was somewhat uneven. Re:Creators had the best magical girl out of these three.

Awards given: Worst non-romantic relationship, Worst side girl (Setsuna from Re:creators, with the main boy) not really an awful character on her own, but the writing around her was pretty bad, let's also give Worst Boy for the said main boy

Nausicaa

I watched the first half of the movie over a decade ago and didn't manage to finish until now. After seeing so many other Ghibli movies this didn't do much for me, but the animation and nature were still beautiful.

Western:

Most Popular Girls in School

The newer seasons didn't reach the heights of the earlier ones but there's still something entertaining about a very raunchy Barbie doll stop motion show. Also pairs well with the Barbie Life in the Dreamhouse for a fun but more child friendly Barbie experience.

Frozen 2

I'm wondering if these really are the only Western piece of media I consumed this year? I certainly didn't go to movies after March. Anyway, like the previous film I had major problems with the plot and characters (I don't think Elsa's story was set up properly, Kristoff's sub-plot feels like an afterthought when he doesn't factor to Anna's sub-plot at all, Olaf is annoying, too much Lore) but ultimately I still had a good time. I like the costume design, the idea for Elsa's arc is fine, the songs are great and there were plenty of good scenes too, and the lullaby was beautiful. I'd say that like the original Frozen this was patched together from perfectly serviceable pieces that didn't quite work combined.

Awards given: Worst romance (not the pairing itself but the way Kristoff x Anna was written)

Games:

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp

Early this year I just decided not to open this app for the daily money-grubbing grind and haven't touched it since. I'm free!

Animal Crossing New Horizons

However the daily grind continues here! It's been way more enjoyable, primarily due to lacking the microtransactions/limited time item angle and also for being so much more customisable. And the nature is so pretty... But I've reached a point where even this has started to feel kind of stale.

Super Mario Odyssey

My first Mario game since Super Mario World so of course I'm blown away by everything. I like how colourful and welcoming the worlds were, Cappy was a surprisingly enjoyable sidekick/mascot and also the game was easy enough and had a simple linear plot so it was far easier to approach than Zelda BotW which is still on hold.

Plans for 2021

Actually play Zelda BotW

Maybe finally Evangelion?

Finally finish the mostly disappointing Digimon Adventure tri

Various magical girl sequels and remakes

[itsagutthing]

Places Carrie Mathison Has Lived: New York City Edition

this installment of my carrie’s apartments series is close to my heart because i also live in brooklyn, though not close to carrie. the show actually filmed a scene just a block from my apartment, but for obvious reasons i’m not going to specify which scene. i know, season six is overall meh with the exception of carrie’s blazers, but my lizard brain still goes, “that’s where i live!” so i give it more leeway than i probably should. 

carrie lives in the bedford-stuyvesant neighborhood of brooklyn, which was once primarily home to black and latino families but unfortunately is in the process of gentrifying. some light googling tells me they filmed the interior apartment scenes on a soundstage in another brooklyn neighborhood called greenpoint, which begs the question: why didn’t they just make carrie live there? greenpoint has also been gentrified but is mostly home to eastern european immigrants, so the writers could have avoided the questionable racial implications of carrie living in bed-stuy, particularly when she’s working at a non-profit that promotes racial justice. and greenpoint is also more convenient to her office in williamsburg! i know the answer to this question is probably just “brownstones look pretty,” and there are lots of brownstones in bed-stuy but not in greenpoint, but i’ll still bitch about it.

anyway, we know from quinn’s escape to the bodega in 6.02 that carrie lives close to the intersection of throop avenue and halsey street, which means she lives off of the kingston-throop A and C trains and a sort-of far walk from the bedford-nostrand G. she probably takes the G to work in williamsburg. this is information that’s only important to me, but i love public transit. 

the bike lane sign in the screenshot above reminds me how much i loved seeing carrie biking around berlin. even though nyc isn’t nearly as bike-friendly, i hope she does the same in brooklyn. 

carrie appears to have free reign of the entire brownstone, which must have been two separate units at some point — both where she and franny live and the ~garden apartment~ on the basement level that has both a full bath and kitchen. she obviously can’t afford to rent out an entire brownstone in new york city, even in bed-stuy, so my headcanon is that otto bought it as an investment property and is letting carrie and franny stay in it at a heavily discounted rate.

brownstones are typically long and skinny, as we see here. there are really only two rooms on the first floor: the living room and the kitchen.

i love seeing all of franny’s drawings strung up on the living room wall and her chalkboard/easel in the corner. this fixes an issue i had with carrie’s berlin apartment, which was that there was a weird lack of kid stuff. i don’t think that means anything on its own — we see in 5.01 how devoted carrie was to her seemingly normal life as a mother — but it’s nice to see more little touches in her brooklyn apartment. 

i assume the fireplace in the left-hand corner isn’t actually usable, but it does make the living room look homier. i’m surprised there isn’t more carpeting, since carrie loves a patterned rug. the living room looks a little cold without it. maybe she isn’t done decorating yet, though i think we’re supposed to believe they’ve been in nyc for a few months.

there’s a tv next to the fireplace in 6.05 that isn’t there in 6.01, which is very strange placement. the only furniture opposite the tv is a desk and chair, so there’s nowhere to sit comfortably while watching. i don’t think carrie spends a lot of time watching tv, but that’s still a confusing choice. i do like franny’s fuzzy chair with bunny ears, though. carrie probably ordered it on amazon but i like to imagine her schlepping it in and out of a cab.

now for the kitchen:

one nice thing the show did to convince us that this is an apartment carrie could maybe afford is that it’s not newly renovated: all the kitchen appliances are basic and/or old, and the countertops look like plastic laminate and are chipped along the edges. and there’s no room for the nice cutting boards or espresso machine she had in germany! i always find barstools charming even if they’re just a cheat to make an efficient use of counter space.

my favorite detail in the kitchen is the trio of framed drawings done by franny. again, i love all the “carrie’s a mom, remember?” touches.

the curtains are a gold color and match the curtains in the living room! carrie learned some design lessons in berlin.

even in the daytime the whole first floor feels really dark, which makes me miss the floor-to-ceiling windows in berlin. i brightened the screenshots a lot to see the details, but especially in the living room, the sunlight just doesn’t reach all the way across the house. the lack of natural light (and the fact that they filmed during the late fall) does a lot of quick work to set the dreary tone that persists for the entire season. i can’t help but compare it to the americans, which also filmed in brooklyn in the fall/winter, but at least the indoor scenes in that show were well-lit and generally warmer in both color and tone. 

i associate the early seasons of homeland with warm yellows, probably because they filmed either in the desert or in charlotte in the summertime. the shift to gray winter skies and heavy coats is a little jarring, even with berlin in the middle as a transitional urban, cooler season. 

that door behind carrie goes out to a set of stairs and their little backyard/patio:

it’s common, if a little depressing, to have bars on first-floor windows as shown in the second shot above, both to child-proof an apartment from the inside and to prevent break-ins. our first view of franny for the season is through those bars, but i’m not entirely sure what the symbolism is supposed to be. carrie already feels a separation from franny, maybe? this shot especially feels super foreboding.

carrie continues her trend of killer outdoor lounge furniture (remember the multiple chaises on her DC patio?) with the wooden chair with blue cushions right outside the back door. there are also more potted plants than i believe carrie would purchase/remember to water, especially in the winter, but maybe she figures if they’re outside they’ll get enough rain to survive.

i don’t have a lot to say about the patio itself other than i’m jealous that carrie has outdoor space.

inside by the stairs/front entryway is a framed berlin jazz poster which makes me inexplicably happy, and follows the same trend with the jazz posters she had in her DC apartment. it’s hard to tell what’s in the photos, so i’m choosing to believe they’re pictures of places she and franny loved in berlin, including some of the two of them taken by jonas. there is absolutely a photo of franny and carrie at the birthday party we saw in 5.01 where carrie’s wearing that balloon hat.

we don’t get to see a lot of the second floor, but i’m going to assume it’s just franny’s room, carrie’s room, carrie’s weird conspiracy closet, and a bathroom.

franny’s room is very colorful, with the rainbow sheets and rainbow polka dot curtains. it makes up for the dreariness of the first floor. behind carrie in that second shot is franny’s star lamp, which i love but have many questions about. it’s obviously an allusion to brody, of which there are many in season 6, probably because they’re in new york city and brody would have never served/been captured/turned/bonded with carrie if not for 9/11. assuming that carrie purchased this lamp for franny with brody’s memory in mind, does franny have anything else that’s star themed? if not, why this lamp? did carrie explain to franny that stars make her think of franny’s father, or is it just a secret nod for carrie alone? how often does carrie talk to franny about brody, if at all?

now we move to carrie’s conspiracy closet:

i’ve been in enough brownstones to know that sometimes there are strange inexplicable tiny rooms, which is what we have here. i’m sure this would be advertised as an office space on streeteasy but it really looks like a glorified closet with a confusing number of doors leading off of it. i count three total including the one saul came in — what are all these doors? i think the one on saul’s right goes to franny’s room but i don’t have a great spatial brain and i’m not confident about that assessment.

this conspiracy board reveal was kinda anticlimactic since very little happens with it, but i still felt like i needed to include it as a separate room since carrie clearly spends a lot of time here. 

i wish we got to see carrie’s bedroom because i love to scrutinize the art she has, but sadly we’re limited to franny’s room. i’m going to assume there’s a full bath up here somewhere, and a half bath downstairs that we don’t see. 

finally, we have the basement apartment that carrie allegedly rents out on airbnb. in real life it likely would be marketed as an entire unit separate from the two floors above, but since otto owns the entire brownstone / is in love with carrie he’s just letting her do whatever she wants with it.

the full kitchen is what convinces me it was supposed to be an independent unit — no one has a stove and sink and lots of cabinets in their basement. like we saw in carrie’s kitchen, none of the appliances are fancy and the countertops are nothing special, which makes the room look kinda drab but does help sell the idea that carrie could actually live here. there’s also some water damage in the corner by the fridge. i’m not sure why they decided to be realistic in season 6 — can we all recall carrie’s unnecessary two-bedroom townhouse in DC? — and it’s not particularly fun to watch, but i’m not mad about it.

the living room area of this basement actually looks cozier than carrie’s living room, with all the pillows and the exposed brick wall. i have a weakness for exposed brick walls, as we know from carrie’s DC apartment, and here it goes pretty far to make the space look homey. the couch looks like it matches the chair on her patio (with the wood frame + blue cushions), so does that mean the patio chair is meant for normal indoor use? why is it outside?? 

as we know from her berlin apartment, carrie really loves a two-curtain combo with a sheer under layer. these are dark green, similar to the navy ones she loved in berlin but not the same. i do like the thought of carrie taking her navy curtains with her from germany and relegating them to the basement to avoid the constant reminder of her past life, but i also have no desire to think about what it would mean that quinn ends up living in the basement with her jonas curtains. so those must be new! 

in summary: musings about carrie’s role in gentrification, the color palette of the show, berlin jazz poster + photos, franny’s art on the walls, star lamp, a basement living room that’s cozier than carrie’s actual living room!

#homeland #carrie mathison #me acknowledging qu*nn's existence? only because i needed the screenshots #me bringing up jonas for no reason? of course #i cropped/brightened these photos while watching gilmore girls which sure was a tonal shift #cma* #i miss carrie even though i have every single episode at my fingertips

[bowtocakemaster]

so im back on my feelings on pokemon since i was going through my old games recently and i decided to browse the bdsp tag. honestly, while i am excited for the games to come out im also very disappointed by them. i reblogged another post where op was talking about how bdsp doesn’t live up to the precedents that earlier remakes set for it and they really put into words exactly what i was feeling. tbh i was actually more excited for bdsp than legends arceus and i know that legends arceus is basically what everyone (including me) wanted for an open world pokemon game. legends arceus...while it did induce some excitement for me, i felt pretty meh about it. im not hating on it im just saying that it doesnt really call out to me.

anyways, when i saw the beginning of the trailer for bdsp i was SUPER HYPE BECAUSE OMG AFTER PEOPLE ASKING FOR THIS FOR FOREVER ITS FINALLY HAPPENING. but then the art style was revealed and i was just....”what? oh, it doesn’t look like swsh? i guess its cool that its gone back to the pixel-like sprite style but...”. i was honestly expecting something like swsh in design when it was revealed we’d be getting a dppt remake. plus, dawn and lucas didn’t even get a new design! in every remake the player character has always gotten a new design! honestly, like a few others mentioned on here, it feels like that they really just went “you want dppt remakes? then fine here you go. happy?” since many of us really wanted remakes for sinnoh. and again, like others have pointed out, it may be because they put in most of their effort into legends arceus. honestly, i would have preferred they had a larger gap between the releases for each game. that way they at least would have had more time to polish bdsp and then once they were done, turn their attention to legends arceus or vice versa.

all in all, im disappointed. excited, but disappointed. i really would have loved a sinnoh that was styled in swsh’s style, but more polished. the chibi style is growing on me but i will always be disappointed that we didn’t get something that could’ve looked really good. plus, if it’s really one-to-one then it’s really just a remaster isn’t it? with nothing new just upgraded to 3d. anyways, this is just me venting and my own personal opinion. i’m honestly glad we even GET sinnoh remakes but i really wish it could’ve been what we all hoped it would be, or at least what many of us hoped it would be.

#pokemon #pokemon brilliant diamond #pokemon shining pearl #bdsp #pkmn bdsp #pokemon bdsp #couch potato talk #this is just me venting i really mean no offense #if you like the way it looks then that's great! #i'm happy for you guys xD

[decembermoonskz]

Hiya! Hope you're doing well💓💓

If you don't mind, may I request for a cute, soft scenario? I honestly don't mind the pairing, but like, Ok so wouldn't it be adorable for a married painter!reader x member where the reader is asked to paint her baby nephew's room and husband!member tags along and then like, the topic of their potential own baby comes up?

Idk I'm just so in love with the idea of a dad member😂😭

-🍔

hi there you! I’m not necessarily adept at writing members married (unless it’s fantasy then I just like go batshit for arranged marriage LMFAO) also these are bit short just blurb requests so I may not be able to go in-depth on this as much just fyi (I kept this pretty neutral both mc and member-wise and I’m kinda meh but oh well it happens 😂)

So like you’re artist yes and a really good one at that HUFFS 😤 your relative requests maybe drawing a pretty tree design for their kid’s room and you’re super happy to help. Your partner (insert whichever member you want) tags along and swears he can help but you aren’t so sure, still you agree, and your partner is definitely more useful in playing with said kid than with painting. When you were taking a little break you came out and saw how cute he looked with the kid (maybe like almost a year-old) and your relative is smiling at them too and you just feel like he’s be a great dad in the future but put the feeling away for a bit to get smth to drink and go back to painting. When your partner comes in to check on you and wraps his arms around you from behind the whisper “I think one day we could make a great family and you can paint their room too” it made you flustered a bit but you smile as you add the finishing touches to the nice cherry blossom tree you painted right above the child’s bed. A work of art indeed.

#skz #stray kids #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #skz imagines #stray kids imagines #🍔 anon #this one was okay I think hope you like it #mailbox

[boomboomiloveprettygirls]

The Great Precure Watchening Part 3: Heartcatch 2 Electric Boogaloo

OKAY SO as of about 10 minutes ago I finally got through Heartcatch Precure, meaning I’ve now watched 11 seasons of Pretty Cure! GOPRI IS NEXT I’M SO EXCITED AAAAAA

Like I said in the last post, Doki Doki was...fine. It wasn’t my favourite season, but it could’ve been a lot worse, and I really liked Alice and Sebastian! (In this house we stan one (1) hypercompetent anime butler named Sebastian and it’s not the edgy bitch from Black Butler lmao.) I thought the mascots were annoying at first, but they kind of grew on me, except Raquel who was just sort of meh. I was also less than thrilled with Cure Ace because I don’t like hypercompetent child characters, but her character arc was pretty good.

Also? I adore Princess Marie Ange. I love her. Also there’s a character named SIR JOHNATHAN KLONDIKE which cracks me up every time I remember we’re supposed to take that seriously. I do wish he hadn’t been as...unintentionally creepy as he was? Like he was absolutely not meant to be a creepy weirdo but when his introductory scene ends with him, an adult, calling a middle schooler “my sweet heart” (I know that’s the name of her attack but still), that’s creepy as hell! I’m glad they changed that for the Glitter Force dub.

Speaking of GF, I still didn’t watch a full episode of GF Doki Doki, but what I did see I liked better than the original GF. The voice acting wasn’t nearly as grating and (most of) the dialogue sounded more natural. (We did still get a Very American VA trying to say “doki doki” with a straight face, so...RIP.) I might get around to actually watching it eventually but I have so many other things to watch/read that it’s pretty low on my priority list.

OKAY BUT LIKE WHY DO THEY KEEP ACCIDENTALLY CODING THEIR CHARACTERS AS LESBIANS. Rikka is so fucking gay for Mana it’s ridiculous.

Anyway.

You might have noticed the title of the post. So uh. About HaChaPre, huh?

Idk man, I just feel like if it had been made by another company I’d be calling them out for trying to rip off Heartcatch Precure. We have 4 main girls in pink, blue, yellow, and purple. The pink girl has a ponytail and is very passionate (this one is admittedly a stretch). The blue one is her best friend who loves fashion and is loud and overbearing. The yellow one is incredibly kind and is associated with kindness and sunshine. The purple one is a more experienced Cure with a family member who was lost to the bad guys as part of her backstory and winds up fighting her at some point. Also there are 3 generals, 2 men and 1 woman, who are eventually purified and revealed to be living normal human lives at the end. There’s a Dark Precure who was made to be the dark reflection of one of the Cures (granted she plays a MUCH bigger role in Heartcatch than HaCha). The fairies have very similar designs and produce the season’s collectable item from their body at the end of every episode. The main monsters are created from random civilians, whose bodies are trapped in a prison while the monster made from their hearts fights the Cures. Hell, Heartcatch was one of the first to really delve into the concept of there being more Precure aside from the protagonists, and one of the main concepts of HaChaPre is that there are Precure all over the world, all fighting the same threat!

I’m not saying that Happiness Charge was just trying to be Heartcatch again. What I am saying is that there are enough similarities that every time I noticed a new one I got more and more annoyed. It doesn’t help that I don’t like this series all that much? It’s perfectly serviceable, I guess, and I like it more than Yes5/Gogo, which is admittedly a pretty low bar. And sometimes the art direction was FUCKING AMAZING, like the part towards the end where they’re all fighting Seiji and their silhouettes are drawn overtop of scenes of the five of them together? ASTOUNDING. STELLAR. AWARD-WORTHY. I love that shit. Eat it up with a spoon. And I liked that Megumi got to cry about Blue? It was a very human, emotional moment and I liked it.

But uuuuugh if there’s one thing I’m tired of it’s love triangles. And also implying that romantic love is the strongest/best/whatever kind of love. WHAT ABOUT FRIENDSHIP, DAMMIT. Also I don’t think they should have had Seiji be in love with Megumi at all. I think it would’ve been nice if they’d just been really close friends, because it just kind of fed into the whole “boys and girls can’t be friends without at least one of them Developing Feelings” bullshit narrative that I’m so sick of. (Had an ex tell me that to my face once. There’s a reason he’s my ex. That and I’m a lesbian now lol oops)

Cure Honey/Yuuko remains as my favourite, though. I adore her. She was perfect. Girl just wants to eat good food with her friends! She loves cooking! And dogs! And eating! And making candy! Plus her yellow overalls with the heart pockets were super cute and I want them.

Oh shit there’s another similarity between Heartcatch and HaChaPre: the yellow Precure is the best one /jk

Anyway I’m going to go make lunch and then START GOPRI YESSSSS

#the great precure watchening #long post #precure #this got so long i'm so sorry lmao #apparently i had a lot of feelings about 2 series i'm mostly apathetic towards??? oops