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radioactive-earthshine · 7 months

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im having a great time with Pluto despite not having seen much astro boy (been aware of it obviously just never sought it out) what would you recommend for someone to watch/read after pluto from the astro boy franchise that is similar in tone and content?

Oh boy oh BOY!

If the Pluto anime is your introduction into the Astro Boy franchise then you've been thoroughly acclimated to the most fervent reoccurring themes found within Tezuka's writings and as such a lot of the tone and story telling will be very similar - even if Pluto was written by Naoki Urasawa and not Tezuka himself.

What I personally would suggest for those curious about learning more about Astro Boy and this particular story is to read the Pluto manga (8 volumes) as an accompaniment - the anime is a very good adaptation but some things had to be cut for time (it's inevitable) and the manga was simply better at revealing some things than the anime to give you a broader sense of place that this world takes place in.

From there you have many options before you depending on your accessibility to some of the series below.

NOTE: There is nothing quite like Pluto other than Pluto, but in all versions of Astro Boy you will find the same themes and content found within Pluto but with a different narrative voice.

For the sake of simplicity I am not getting into the bigger Tezuka Star System I'm just focusing on Atom in the most direct way - no this is not meant to be a full complete list of EVERYTHING.

The 1950s Manga

Written by Tezuka himself, where it all started.

Contains all of the original core stories of Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) which were adapted in various media.

Is available in English to purchase and is online.... in places...

Can get shockingly dark and gruesome and I do not have the spoons to list all the Content Warnings possible. Adults will find enjoyment from this series.

Is generally episodic.

Classic golden age sci-fi with themes relevant today still.

The 1960s Anime

Written and worked on by Tezuka himself.

Contains many of the core stories presented in the manga adapted to fit a single episode.

Episodic.

The first two years (104 episode out of 193) are available in English to purchase on DVD (with extras!) - I do not know if the 'missing 89' are available online with subs or if the original Japanese is available with subs out there.

Yes, inevitably the dubs sanitized a lot of the stories and Americanized them - but even so they are worth a watch.

The 1980s Anime

Also written and worked on by Tezuka himself.

Is available in English to purchase, but like the 60s dub, it has been cropped, chopped, and censored - in some ways worse than the 60s series. The DVDs at least do have the Japanese track with subs available.

You can find the 80s Japanese unedited online with subs.

Is mostly episodic but does have a subplot featuring a new character Atlas and his sister Levian.

Contains some of the core stories from the manga but this series is much shorter so some of your favorites might have been dropped.

The 2003 Anime

Tezuka did not work on this series as he was deceased at time of production.

Modern Astro Boy with a more modern lens and modern story-telling expected of anime of the time.

Contains a plot and contains the episodic spirit of the original shows and manga, but the plot is still referenced in modern anime story telling. The main plots being 1.) robot rights being established in a world where they have none despite having "kokoro" (heart) which is basically free will and sentience and 2.) who is that boy anyway?

Many of the most beloved Astro Boy stories from the manga are not present in this series.

American voices dictated the direction of this series from the start even in the original Japanese which is a big negative.

The English dub is heavily censored and altered from the original version - but it contains some amazing performances from people like Dorian Harewood whom I still to this day don't know HOW he agreed to play Dr. Tenma but my god he did an amazing job.

The unedited subbed Japanese version can be found online.

Despite the amount of butchering and meddling during production it is still a relevant part of the Astro Boy collective world.

Naoki Urasawa's Pluto Manga and Anime

You already know of this adaptation but it's a retelling of The World's Greatest Robot, the classic story from the manga and is present in all of the above series. It is also direct commentary about the American invasion of Iraq with some names changed so as to not hurt feelings. I generally suggest to adults to read this and if it connects with them then try on the original manga and maybe see if any of the anime gets their eye too.

A note on Tezuka and his extended works.

An American equivalent to him would be Jack Kirby however he had more creative control with his work, was credited for his creations, and had just about the same amount of influence on Japanese comics as Jack Kirby did with American comics (maybe even to a greater extent). Tezuka was incredibly prolific and is dubbed "The God of Manga" for a reason. Many of his stories all circle around the same themes; war, grief, the futility of hatred and the doom of mankind while also taking on blatant political sides including environmentalism, equal rights, gender rights and even playing with gender and expression (note they are products of their time and some of which are offensive today but for the time were groundbreaking).

If you wanted specific stories from the manga that might be more what you are looking for to refine your search, let me know! I've been needing an excuse to drag them out.

#astro boy #pluto #pluto anime #osamu tezuka #tezuka #tetsuwan atom #naoki urasawa's pluto #my niche interests #no i didn't include x thing on purpose

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ectomoog · 5 months

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How to Get Your Friends into Doctor Who (2005) - A Guide

Ok I really like Doctor Who, and of course I like introducing people to it, but oh my god do you forget how randomly terrible and/or cringy and/or uncomfortably Moffat-esque some of the episodes are, *especially* when you're watching it with someone who has no idea what to expect.

SO I made a list of ten episodes that I think would be the best loose sequence of episodes for a causal introduction to the show...

But first, some requirements:

It has to be a one-off (NO TWO-PARTERS), low commitment, etc

It can't require watching previous OR following episodes to be enjoyable

It needs to actually be good

It needs to represent Doctor Who well

In a social setting where you're showing a group of people an episode, most of these would be fine. Watching consistently with one person however, loosely follow this order, and if your person decides at any point that they want to commit to actually watching the show, skip straight back to The End of The World and watch Series 1. Ok list time...

1. Rose (S1, E01)

I think Rose is the perfect episode of Doctor Who to start on. It's campy, it's fun and weird and it sets up almost everything you need to know for the Revival Era. You get the companion, the Doctor, regular Doctor Who tropes and themes, etc. Plus, if they can't get past the Mickey bin scene, this show probably isn't for them anyway.

2. Dalek (S1, E06)

Skipping a few episodes into Series 1, Dalek is a great way to get a feel for the format of the show, and also a great and intentional introduction to the Daleks. The Doctor and the companion turn up in a mysterious place and have to battle an alien force and really unlikeable one-off side characters, the works basically. It's a fun monster-movie of an episode.

3. Vincent and The Doctor (S5,E10)

Jumping a whole five series forward, Vincent and The Doctor is a notoriously heart-wrenching historical that I think is a classic (if a little indulgent) example of Doctor-meets-famous-historical-figure. It's nice to jump to a different Doctor and a different era of the show, to get a feel for its' diversity. Although there's a few moments relevant to the greater series plot, it's contained, very pretty, very sweet, and easy to understand.

4. Midnight (S4, E10)

Midnight just feels like an essential episode to be honest. A fantastic one-off sci-fi horror/thriller, with one of David Tennant's best performances, a great introduction to the 10th Doctor. It's a shame you don't get more Donna, but I think this one would be my go-to if someone asked for the best episode to watch stand-alone, just based on how genuinely great it is.

5. Heaven Sent (S9, E11)

Jumping to Series 9 with another critically-acclaimed episode, but also one that I think is an amazing introduction to the 12th Doctor. Heaven Sent is a little unconventional, and I'm not 100% sure it should be here, but it does give Capaldi a whole episode to just act his ass off, and he completely delivers. It's artsy, mysterious and dramatic, very much the high concept sci-fi style of Moffat's later scripts, so I think an appropriate watch.

6. The Voyage of The Damned (2007 Special)

If you're not in a festive mood, try The Lodger or Demons of the Punjab instead

The Christmas episodes are too iconic not to show, and as far as Christmassy vibes, celebrity cameos and whimsical concepts go, this one is a fun one. This is David Tennant in his prime, with Kylie Minogue, a massive budget and a romp of a script.

6. Blink (S3, E10)

I mean, duh, but genuinely I think Blink is just *too good* not to include. A tense, creepy, tightly-written piece of horror TV with twists and turns and drama, it's considered the best episode of Doctor Who for a reason, and along with Midnight is an amazing stand-alone episode. It's not super conventional, but all the timey-wimey stuff is very Doctor Who.

6. The Mummy on The Orient Express (S8, E08)

If you're a Tennant stan you could swap this out for The Planet of the Dead

This one is just a fun one really. The Mummy on The Orient Express is stylish and fun, with a cool concept and a little peek into a more complex Doctor-companion relationship. With a short explanation you can get the context pretty easily, and it's a good example of your typical episode anyway.

HOWEVER if you have time, there's a bunch of two-parters you should watch instead, like The Family of Blood, The Empty Child, Silence in the Library, even Extremis.

9. The Haunting of Villa Diodati (S12, E10)

Finally some 13th Doctor rep! This one has some of the strongest writing in the Chibnall era, and is a fun horror mystery that serves as a fun introduction to Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. It has a little bit of series-wide arc, but that's okay.

10. The Church on Ruby Road (2023 Special 4)

If your person liked all those episodes but still doesn't want to watch 13 seasons of TV, just abandon ship and watch the 2023 Christmas special in preparation for Series 14 (or Season 1) in Spring 2024. The Church on Ruby Road is the beginning of the latest soft reboot of the show and has been explicitly created as a jumping on point for new fans. Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson absolutely shine in this special, it's fun and silly and in my opinion bodes very well for the next season of Doctor Who...

"in 900 years of time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important" - Bannakaffalatta

I hope that was a success! After all those episodes hopefully you either had a good time with whoever you were watching it with, or you've already moved onto Series 1! I'll be trying this out the best I can with my girlfriend this year, so look out, because I may be back with adjustments later...

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aaksees · 4 months

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Good Day/Evening/Night! If it is not too much to ask, could I ask for headcanons about Stainless as a boyfriend?

Long time no post, Hi guyss!! I'll also reopen requests after another request has been posted! ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆Stainless boyfriend hcs ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆

A goofball of a boyfriend you’ve got here.

He becomes very much smitten when you’re around and is very big on PDA! Cuddling in the landship halls or even small kisses on your forehead or cheeks, other operators can't help but snicker at you both or tell you both to be wary of the single people.

Stainless loves it when you call him by his real name and would feel like melting on the post whenever you do so.

“Oh pretty please call me my name again, come on pleeeeea-” “Feist.” A nonstop sound of giggles is heard by a certain Sarkaz shopkeeper and is now hesitating to approach the end of the hallway.

Book dates! Fiction, Non-fiction, sci-fi, anything he’ll read together with you! Reading is more enjoyable when together with your lover. Feeling sad? Don’t ever worry, Feist is on the way with all of your favorite things. Snacks? He’s got two bags full of them, Favorite book? Already making sure you get comfy as he reads along with you. Wanna watch something instead? Already on it as he compiles all of your favorite shows in a playlist.

Stainless does get nervous at times if he’s doing great as a partner so be sure to reassure him he’s doing perfect as it is.

#arknights #arknights x gn reader #arknights x reader #arknights x male reader #arknights x fem reader #Stainless x reader #Stainless x male reader #Stainless x gn reader #Stainless x fem reader

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avelera · 10 months

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So I spent the weekend watching “For All Mankind” on Apple TV with my love, and had a few thoughts:

- I think I would have watched it much sooner if I’d known it was created by Ronald D. Moore of “Battlestar Galactica” (reboot), “Outlander” (though I haven’t seen it), and DS9 fame. It definitely made the fact that Apple made this particular show make more sense.

- I somehow completely missed what the premise of the show actually was from the little marketing I saw for it. I think I clocked it as some sort of atomic age sci-fi adventure story but really it’s about the Space Race and it’s a whole alternate US history of what would have happened if the USSR got to the moon first and made the US spiteful enough to keep competing with them there.

- It’s basically a whole alternate history of the 1960s-90s (so far) and does a fair number of interesting and plausible alterations of the timeline.

- IMO the story is at its best when it cleaves closest to reality and makes you go, “Oh yeah, sure, that could easily have happened!” If only because then when they do make bigger leaps you can see how they’re grounded.

- The story is also at its best with its character stories. In particular Margo, Aleida, Molly (and Wayne, my beloved), and even surprisingly Karen after the first season arc really deal in a lot of pathos and I got choked up over them more than once.

- The show does a good job of showing the personal things going on in a character’s life and the struggles they’re going through before and during major history-altering decisions they make. In that sense, it’s a very empathic show AND it builds a good causal chain for why some of these events happen. You almost always at least understand why a certain decision was made.

- That doesn’t mean you AGREE with every decision. By the time we got to S3, my chorusing cries of, “GURRRRLL NO” and “OH BUDDY, NO” respectively had become a familiar chant.

- There were one or two plotlines and decisions I disliked (mostly because they struck me as cliche, like Kelly’s in S3, or a bit culturally questionable even if they made sense thematically, like lauding the US pilgrims in one of the S3 voiceover monologues which makes SENSE because the show’s about exploration but also… no. Eh. Maybe pick a group a little less steeped in religious zealotry and colonialism, much as I understand their mythological place in the broader American zeitgeist, and how colonialism and exploration ARE hard to extricate when addressing broader themes AND since no life has been discovered there (yet), space exploration doesn’t carry the same controversy around those aspects of colonialism, and I get how as a writer of a space exploration show, you’re trying to address the spirit of daring and all but…. Yeah. It’s tough to find good parallels to wax poetic about without stumbling upon some complex legacies, shall we say)…

- BUT I will say as a writer that they made up maybe 10% at most of the show which is an objectively very small part of such a sweeping and ambitious narratives and I liked a lot more than I disliked.

- I don’t know if EVERYONE will like it but I do think it’s a solid sci-fi show that I find much more enjoyable and solidly written than, say, “Silo” and one with a great answer to the “so what?” of the story with its couching in the great events of the latter half of the 20th c and it’s intimate focus on well-depicted and complex characters.

#for all mankind #show rec

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yasminewestbank · 5 months

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all movie asks answers from the ask meme post bc it was fun

Your favorite movie released this year DIDNT WATCH ANY 2023 MOVIES YET.. CRIES

A movie you think is underrated - obliged to say An Elephant Sitting Still by hu bo bc i can never find it in dvd stores and i unfortunately honestly dont know if i will find a screening of it in a cinema available to me ever again but i dream of it

A movie you think is overrated - going to put two, one new and one classic. first one is parasite. im bitter abt this movie bc it was advertised like crazy and the reviews were so hyping and then i went and it was average. its not a bad movie but not only doesnt deserve the hype the hype ruined it for me bc if i went with the proper expectations i wouldnt have gotten so disappointed. a classic is alphaville of godard... obviously its a good movie and im sure it was groundbreaking at the time but by now the story doesnt feel as sophisticated bc this genre of story is at this point.. i wouldnt say overdone bc its still a great genre but its not fresh or suprising by now without making it more complex. this movie felt like a blueprint to the 1984 book soviet dystopia genre so it didnt keep up with the times. many classic movies are still exciting and fresh just like when they came out including other movies of godard but this isn't one of them. but i can also see how it was probably one of godard's top commercial movies, bc it was easier to digest and more basic than his other work

A movie you like but wouldn't recommend - stalker of tarkovsky and tarkovsky movies in general bc i think it would probs be boring to most ppl (its slow and not much plot) + tarkovsky movies r slow and the kind of movies u have to watch in the movie theater

A movie musical you like - annette of leox carax. and its not only a good movie the music is so good too

A horror movie you like - audition by takashi miike . love japanese violence

A sci-fi movie you like - high life by claire denis. AND it has robert pattinson in it!!!!!!!111 and hes amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A fantasy movie you like

A movie in your native language you like - Life According to Agfa by Assi Dayan. one of the only good israeli movies that exist bc i didnt see so far any good, worthwhile or complex israeli movie besides this one (not including documentaries).

A foreign-language movie you like - (i put a bunch already so ill do one in a language i didnt put yet) tori and lokita by the dardenne brothers. takes place in belgium in french about a young refugee woman and a refugee child from africa who pose as brother and sister. this is going to destroy you but its such a good movie i cant recommend it enough but i still cant recover

A movie you wish you could un-watch - the disney secretariat movie. it was so bad oh my god it was so fucking bad im in pain. i want disney to give me back the braincells i lost. this actor horse deserves so much better

A performance you think is underrated - Vicenç Altaió (yeah had to google this one) in story of my death by albert serra. his acting was insane. probably one of the best acting perfomances ive ever seen, specifically the toilet scene stuck with me. so it's a period movie about casanova. there a scene in the movie that all of it is just him taking a shit. and of course it sounds goofy but it was actually a really human and sensitive depiction and his acting was so natural i completely forgot i was watching a movie. he really made this scene what it is. and tbh i think even from those other photos u can see what i mean on him

A performance you think is overrated

A movie made better by the ending - only thing that comes up in my mind is barton fink of joel coen.. i can barely remember this movie bc i watched it years ago but (spoilers) i can just remember there was a twist in the middle that flipped the whole movie on its head and it was super enjoyable. besides this i cant think of anything

A movie ruined by the ending - the holy mountain of jodorowsky... at the time i watched it i was so disappointed by the ending it was so anticlimactic. i think he thought he did something but it just didnt work. (might be spoilers) same vibes when a story pulls "and then he found out it was all a dream". like.. in this case it just didnt feel fitting it was disappointing. but i watched it years ago so i wonder if i would feel the same now

A trilogy/franchise you like cant think of anything

A movie you never get tired of talking about - drive my car by ryusuke hamaguchi. its fun to talk abt this movie bc even tho there are a lot of themes and details that make it what it is, its not too complex to not be able to grasp and pinpoint them. so its complex enough to be a good movie but not too complex to not be able to talk abt it, both abt the good and bad things (bc there r also choices the director made that i dont like). and there's also so much to talk abt that stems from this movie not only in the movie itself but also what it shows abt japanese cinema, contemporary japanese cinema/this generation of japanese directors versus the previous generations. also i love this director in general i recc all his movies

A movie you never wanna hear about again - if i hear one more thing abt any marvel movie im going to kill myself

A movie you look forward to watching (could be an upcoming release or not) - aki karutismaki's fallen leaves that came out this year

A movie you think looks beautiful - red desert of antonioni. i adore the aesthetic of this movie. tbh its probably my favorite movie visuals wise. i just cant stop adding photos from google bc i love everything slkfdsflsfgds

A director you think is underrated - tbh hard to think of anyone.. i think any director i like got some kind of recognition, and if i think ok which one doesnt get mainstream recognition it would be basically most of them. so im trying to think.. who do i rlly think doesnt get recognition. maybe the crown should go to the photographer petra collins who actually directed the first season of euphoria before sam levinson kicked her out and claimed he did it and stole all her work

A director you think is overrated - HITCHCOCK!!!!!!! HES NOT THAT GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HES TRULY NOT THAT GOOD!!!!!!!!!!! I COULD PULL UP 10 DIRECTORS FROM HIS TIME AND BEFORE HIM THAT ARE SO MUCH BETTER THAN HE IS THAT ARENT AS HYPED UP. godard and kurosawa made movies so much better and decades before him so the reason hes hyped cant even be that what he made was groundbreaking for the time. hitchcock is MID

An animated movie you like - the cowboy bebop movie... its so fun and satisfying to watch i watched it so many times dsfdf

A silent movie you like cant think of anything

Your favorite movie - possession by andrej zulawski. im speechless abt it. dont read a summery go into this blind. its such an insane experience (sin look my fav movie is a polish movie)

Your least favorite movie i dont rlly have one i have a whole bunch of movies i dont like but i dont have THE hated movie

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dude1818 · 5 months

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Anime Year in Review

Last year I made a silly post ranking the three shows I happened to watch. This year, I got way more into anime (and manga), so let's do it properly this time

Revue Starlight* - Easy top star spot. This anime was flawless. I watched it twice this year and will be watching it again. The story, the animation, the music were all impeccable. The music, oh my god; I listen to the soundtrack every day. Some of my other favorites on this list I'd only recommend based on your personal tastes, but this show should be watched by everyone. (The sequel and spin-offs, not so much. They all use the revues in a way that completely undermines the premise of the main series)

Heavenly Delusion - So fucking good. Second on this list, but I think it's the best show that came out this year. Deeply traumatic, but in such a satisfying way. The horror elements were so brutal and so well done, and I love that the man-eating monsters were the least gruesome part of the show. If it wasn't for the stinker of the ice monster episode, I think this could've been my favorite anime

Call of the Night* - Adored this show. Yes it's a celebration of the hedonism of vampires, but it's so earnest and down-to-earth with it that it feels so good to watch that I did it twice (sub and dub). I also got into the manga, which is sadly wrapping up next month, but hopefully that prompts an announcement about season 2

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End - Super chill show, which is a great way to wind down the week. It's such a cool concept too, following the adventurer after the adventure is over. It's just a reflection on life and I love it

The Witch from Mercury (cour 2) - Given that I run a sideblog just for this show, it might be surprising that it's so low on my list, but the second cour was a lot weaker than the first. Not nearly enough of Suletta and Miorine interacting, and way too much chaff following Guel's B-plot. I've said it before, but I think the worst part of this Gundam show is that it's a Gundam show. A+ epilogue though, and Suletta is still my favorite character this year

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - I enjoyed the original comic and the live action movie. I didn't realize this new adaption was really a sequel, but it ended up being a great way to bring the old story to the modern decade. (Two decades later isn't much, but it was very of-its-time)

Spy x Family (cour 2) - Very fun show. Following several viewpoint characters means the individual episodes might be hit-or-miss (as much as I love Anya, the episodes at the school are relatively bland), but the overall package was sweet and enjoyable

Nimona - Another comic I really enjoyed. The movie was strong, although it cut a lot of parts out that I thought were important to the original story

The Orbital Children - Directed by the same person who directed one of my long-time favorites (Dennou Coil), the first two acts of this really felt like a modern update. Stunning visuals, great sci-fi, thrilling adventure. Went totally off the deep in the third act, though

Joshiraku* - As the characters pointed out, adapting a manga that takes entirely inside the green room of a stand-up comedy club is an odd choice. It was off-the-charts hilarious, though. Considering some of the scripts were entirely pun-based, it must've been an immense amount of work to translate, but they absolutely pulled it off

Oshi no Ko - The only reason I watched this show was because the OP was such a banger. (Several fantastic anime songs by YOASOBI this year, and Idol is easily my favorite.) The first, feature-length episode was incredible and I literally cried at the end. If it was a stand-alone movie, it would be a couple of spots higher on this list. The rest of the show was fine, but not really what I was here for. I'll probably still watch season 2 though

Arknights: Prelude to Dawn* - I bounced off the gacha game immediately, but the worldbuilding and character designs seemed cool, so I wanted to give the anime adaptation a chance. The plot was very thin but serviceable enough. At least it looked nice to watch.

The Magical Revolution of ... - Not typing that whole thing out. It was a cute show. The yuri stuff was nice, but I wish for a show about a magical inventor, there was a non-zero amount of magical inventing shown on screen

* indicates the show aired prior to 2023

A lot of shows I really loved this year. Looking forward to next year, the anime I'm most hyped for is obviously Dungeon Meshi. It looks like it's going to be incredible. The second season of Arcane is also scheduled to come out late next year, which is also very exciting. Technically Frieren has a second cour in January, but they're airing both cours as basically a single 24-episode season, so that doesn't really count

For older shows I mean to catch up on, YouTube has recced me clips of probably every single joke from K-On!, and it's really grown on me. Definitely going to watch that soon. I'm also in the mood to watch Bocchi the Rock! again. I should also make myself watch the first couple episodes of PMMM. Nothing I've seen on Tumblr has grabbed me for that one, but it's right in the middle of some of the other shows I was gushing about here and it would be dumb not to try it

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keire-ke · 1 year

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Three Body Problem/Dark Forest

I’ve only read the first two so far, and overall I really enjoyed both (with some caveats)! I have it on good authority the third one goes off the rails, but I’ll report back on this one :P Thus far they were very enjoyable as sci-fi epics, TBP takes place in more-or-less now, DF spans centuries, the worldbuilding is great, the ideas it has are very cool and the prose is so good.

That said, they are immensely frustrating, too, in very particular ways (least among which is “wow, this was definitely written by a man”). TBP not so much, that’s just great, but the follow-up...

I’m putting it behind a cut, because spoilers (if you’re thinking of reading the books, avoid spoilers, the spiral they take you on is Something Else)

My particular point of frustration is in how these books are broadly speaking about the relationship between the collective and the individual, how one feeds into and affects the other, but the individuals are... Well, they have names, definitely, and also occupations. It’s less of a problem in TBP, which is very straightforward with the cause and effect, but in DF it rolls out into a whole sprawling... something.

Okay, so book one, Ye Wenjie is so disillusioned with humanity after living through the Chinese revolution and watching her father’s murder that she asks the aliens to come over and destroy it. Cool. There’s a whole organization dedicated to helping the aliens out, which she leads, but she has second thoughts after things start happening, all that.

In DF we get the very explicit consequences of the “humanity over humans” in the form of the history of the Great Ravine(? - not sure how it’s translated in English), and how that lead to a nigh-perfect society based on individual rights, whose only real problem was that they were too trusting and hopeful, to the point that older characters refer to them as children. Also cool. Yes, sometimes bright-eyed optimism will not save the day, which doesn’t make callous pessimism right. Humanity didn’t get to its darkest hour by being too lovey-dovey (though mistakes were made and hubris didn’t help). In the end the only future is one of cooperation and mutual respect.

So, the day is saved by a guy who only really wants to reunite with his family. Again, so far so cool. Humanity is made of humans, who may think of humanity in the abstract, but they are also creatures of the here and now and that’s what civilisation is and should be about. For better or for worse.

The problem is, the guy’s family is a cardboard cutout not only in the meta sense of having hardly any lines and existing mainly between scenes, oh no. That would be... disappointing, but also par the course for, hell, most of literature. No, instead the family starts when Luo imagines a perfect woman, who becomes real to him, to the point he has self-induced hallucinations about her being in the car and having conversations with him, and later uses the societal powers granted to him to get the police (his chief bodyguard with whom he has a reasonably compelling actual friendship) to find him a girl matching that exact description. Who is then lured in to his house under the pretense of working for him. Within a year or so they marry and have a child.

And then the epilogue concludes that humanity has problems with the Dark Forest metaphor because love is so important in human culture (it’s not as egregious as in Interstellar, don’t worry, it actually comes off quite well). Which...

But wouldn’t it be much stronger if they were both actual characters? If they met the normal way, if they fought and made up and had human interactions that weren’t limited to Luo thinking how perfectly in line with his fantasies his mail-order-imagination bride turned out?

That’s not even mentioning that the core tenant of the Dark Forest theory is the complete impossibility of communication between alien civilisations, when the whole entire series is predicated on perfect communication being not only possible, but pivotal from the point of first contact, but that doesn’t actually affect the plot all that much.

#literature is out to read you #three body problem #dark forest #kk reads books

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denimbex1986 · 6 months

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'David Tennant’s comeback tour as the Doctor began with the glorified greatest hits set that was “The Star Beast”– a sweet, funny slab of kid-friendly telly that lovingly scratched its audience under the chin. But returning showrunner Russell T Davies had promised that “Wild Blue Yonder”, the second of Tennant’s three 60th anniversary instalments, would be “darker… not scary… just genuinely weird”. He wasn’t joking.

There have always been many sides to the BBC’s most beloved sci-fi franchise. One of its more distinctive flavours is “Weird Who” (remember those killer wheelie bins from Davies’s first season in 2005?).

It is a tradition that the enjoyably bonkers “Wild Blue Yonder” follows with a spring in its stride. Set aboard a haunted starship, this second adventure featuring the reunited Doctor and Donna (Catherine Tate) tips its hat to Ridley Scott’s original Alien. Meanwhile, its plunge into claustrophobic body horror suggests a familiarity with the Dead Space video games.

Whatever the inspiration, it’s great fun – illuminated by the livewire enthusiasm of the two leads. And that’s despite a worrying moment when the Doctor references the dreadful and completely baffling Chris Chibnall’s “Flux” story arc from 2021, which made even hardcore Whovians feel adrift in time and space.

Never mind, the script pushes swiftly on, and we can again forget Flux ever happened. Nevertheless, some fans may be slightly underwhelmed. The BBC hasn’t done itself any favours by keeping the plot of “Wild Blue Yonder” under wraps. In so doing, it has fuelled wild speculation among Whovians – to the point where director Tom Kingsley had to take to Twitter to dampen the hype. “The story of ‘Wild Blue Yonder’ isn’t a secret because there are any surprise returning actors or villains,” he wrote. “It’s just because we thought you might find it fun to watch it without knowing what’s going to happen next.”

“The Star Beast” ended with Donna spilling coffee on the Tardis control panel and sending the machine into the temporal vortex. Taking up the story, “Wild Blue Yonder” has the pair initially materialise atop a tree in England in 1666 – watched on by an astonished Isaac Newton. “Was it me or was Isaac Newton hot?” Donna later wonders. The Doctor nods: “He was so hot.” Then, a pause. “Oh, is that who I am now?”

It is the latest indication that his sexuality may be more fluid than historically believed (as already broadly hinted during the Jodie Whittaker years). Donna shrugs: “It was never that far from the surface, mate.”

His orientation is the least of their concerns. The Tardis has beamed aboard a spaceship while its speakers blast “Wild Blue Yonder” – the anthem of the US Air Force. Why a war song? And why vanish suddenly – stranding the Doctor and Donna?

The Doctor has a theory about the latter. The Tardis has a “Hostile Action Displacement System”, which kicks in when danger is near. It’s taken itself off somewhere safe – presumably to return when the coast is clear.

In the meantime, the duo have a vast spaceship to explore. A sad robot shuffles down a corridor, and a command bridge looks out at sheer emptiness. They’re at the very edge of the universe – gazing into a terrifying void where only madness lurks. Viewers can replicate the experience at home by tuning into the next episode of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

But they’re not as alone as they think. The ship is also home to a pair of shape-shifting aliens, who turn into carnival mirror approximations of the Doctor and Donna. Comedy and horror bump against each other as the doppelgängers struggle to keep it together. “My arms are too long,” says the fake Doctor, dragging two massive rubberised hands like an oversized bendy toy.

Davies is correct to describe “Wild Blue Yonder” as more weird than scary. It’s a hoot seeing the real Doctor and Donna chased by the amorphous ETs, who briefly grow so large that they wedge the corridor like exiles from a Lovecraftian clown show.

There is further fun along the way as Davies replays the old TV trope of two lookalikes, each pretending to be the “real” version of someone. He also comes up with the clever idea of the aliens feeding on the anger and fear of the Doctor and Donna. It reads like a commentary on how social media monetises our darkest emotions (the monsters are temporarily powerless when Doctor and Donna clear their minds).

This is the point at which Chibnall-era Who would try to be clever by chucking in extra story elements and confusing everyone. Davies plays it straight, keeps it simple, and allows the Doctor and Donna to outsmart the shape-shifters, whose ultimate plan is to mimic the newcomers so perfectly that they can take control of the Tardis.

They are defeated, of course, and it’s back to London. There, we are treated to a moving cameo by Donna’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott, played by the late Bernard Cribbins in one of his final screen appearances (which sets up next week’s adventure when a passenger jet screams overhead and crashes).

One of the most impressive aspects of these new Tennant adventures is their determination to play it straight. Davies’s big return could easily have tripped up on its self-importance. The 60th anniversary is on the way, and Tennant is making history as the first Doctor to return for an entire arc.

But all of that is left unstated. Davies, Tennant and Tate are here because they love the Doctor. That uncomplicated enthusiasm ripples through an episode that is ultimately just another great helping of Who.'

#Doctor Who #60th Anniversary #Wild Blue Yonder #Russell T. Davies #David Tennant #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #Flux #Tom Kingsley #The Star Beast #Wilfred Mott #Bernard Cribbins

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northern-passage · 3 years

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Love your writing! I’ve played a few IFs and very few of them stand out in terms of quality: A compelling plot, three dimensional characters, an enjoyable MC, and relevant player choices. Yours is one of them!

Do you have any favorite IFs?

thank you so much!!

since i've started writing, i haven't really been reading IFs like i used to, and there are a lot of newer games that i haven't had the chance to play, and others that i've not had the time to catch up on. but here are some of my favorites, in no particular order:

god of the red mountain by @friendlybowlofsoup - i love this game so much. there is a lot of replayability here and i love the setting & the huge cast of characters. i could go on and on but honestly just go play it if you haven't!

diaspora by @diasporatheblog - another game with a lot of replayability and a lot of really interesting characters. the opening of this game has always stuck with me. also the game design itself is something i aspire to with tnp.

virtue's end (18+) by @crimsiswrites - my fellow monster hunter... another game where i really love the setting, and the worldbuilding with helvlings and their keepers. currently undergoing a rewrite, & i recommend checking out all the info on the blog before playing through the old demo.

project hadea (18+) by @nyehilismwriting - every time i read this game i get an uncontrollable urge to write sci-fi and watch alien. writing is very compelling and i love the alien designs, refreshing to actually see something... alien!!

scout: an apocalypse story by @anya-dev - i am behind on updates (sorry fake fan) but i love scout so much, one of the few games where i really love all of the companions, also we all know i am weak for friends to lovers.... i also really love apocalypse stories that feel... hopeful? and that are about community, rather than individual survival.

crosshollow foundations by @townofcrosshollow - i love the character creation in this one, and i love being an "observer" and guiding the characters in their choices. i've linked crosshollow's itch.io page here because jasper has a few other games that revolve around the universe of crosshollow.

snakeroot & walk with me by @cerberus-writes - cer has such a beautiful way with words... he knows this i scream about his writing all the time & i can't recommend them enough. snakeroot is a modern horror fantasy, another fellow monster hunter! walk with me is a bit different, with bitsy gameplay, where you take a walk and have a conversation with a god.

a tale of crowns (16+) by @ataleofcrowns - another game i am unfortunately not up to date on (i’m so sorry) but i did stay up super late reading the first three or four chapters all at once! a really great fantasy game with a refreshing setting and a really great cast of characters. also love the attention to detail and the small touches that go into personalizing the crown.

body count (18+) by @bodycountgame - oh this game is so fun, fun writing, fun characters, a fun premise! this is actually my favorite kind of modern horror, where a group of fun young adults are off to have a cute adventure or something but then... something terrible happens! murder! maybe an unexpected twist or two! also i love bad reality television so like... truly it’s perfect.

a limber love by @copperspines - ohh i love this game, i’ve played through for all seven endings and i just love speculative horror fiction like this. good atmosphere and i love the illustrations.

the spirited: origins by @yuveim - my other favorite kind of modern horror: ghost hunting!!! really good horror writing in this, and i’m excited to see how the relationships between all the characters unfold going forward, and how exactly we’re going to deal with the whole demon thing...

the exile (18+) by @exilethegame - another game where i really like the character customization and the worldbuilding, and no one should be surprised i like playing characters like the commander. this game has a lot of replayability and lots of secrets to uncover.

blood moon (18+) by @barbwritesstuff - werewolves, ghosts, and vampires, oh my! updates when the moon is full (yes i am behind on this one barb writes so fast it’s insane). a great cast, lots of choices and branching and replayability. werewolves are the superior supernatural love interest and i will die on this hill.

the goodfellows & creature’s cradle by @thecuriouseye - the goodfellows is so interesting, again the worldbuilding and lore in this one is just chef’s kiss!! dark fantasy with giant monsters and heavy consequences. creature’s cradle is a supernatural post-apocalyptic story with zombies, vampires, werewolves, and more. the current demo is short and sweet but i’m excited for more.

boundary pass by @boundarypass-if - as someone who has worked as both a park ranger and a forest ranger, this game really gets me. i love the kind of horror you can only experience when you’re alone out in the wilderness....

when it hungers (16+) by @roast-ifs - i love the setting of this one: fantasy 1910s. really cool species available for character customization, and some good horror writing. i love the team dynamic of the main cast, and how the main character struggles to find their place in it without their memories.

greenwarden by @fiddles-ifs - yet another fantasy horror game! modern setting this time. really interesting main character, with a past that seems to be haunting them... but right now there’s a mystery to be solved and a monster to track.

contrition by @nihilnovisubsole - i’ve recommended this one before but i really love it, the atmosphere, the writing, everything about it... it’s stuck with me and it’s a great read.

this is by no means a complete list of IFs i enjoy but hopefully there is something new for you in here that you like. i’m sure i’m forgetting some that i will curse myself for later... there’s a lot of talent in the IF community and there are a lot of new stories just getting started that i just haven’t had the time to read, but you can always browse my other games tag for newer intro posts as well.

#whew #you sent this a few days ago i think but it got buried like immediately (lol)#thank you again for the kind words too!!!#other games #ask #dabenport

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coffehbeans · 2 years

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🐜 🔬 📖 (please i need more fics)

🐜 Would you rather be tiny or giant? You can only pick one or the others? Only a tiny honestly, I don't like feeling like a giant because I don't enjoy being the center of attention. It's better to just, be smol and disappear inside the walls back to my cozy little home hahaha 🔬 What lead you to the G/T community? Any particular pieces of media that got you into G/T? Ohoho I'm glad you asked cause I have my whole "g/t biography" right here Lmao Enjoy: https://coffehbeans.tumblr.com/post/675670461712121856/specific-formative-gt-memories-from-my-childhood 📖 Got any G/T fics and/or art you can recommend? Or perhaps any G/T fic and/or art ideas you want to share? *cracks knuckles* I got u covered I do like to warn though that all of these recommendations mainly, if not only, feature male giants aushsjsw x,D I don't read giantess fics, mostly because I'm not that fond of them. So, sorry if none of these fics end up being your taste :') FICS Thereafter By Sweet Intent: this was a recent finding and it's already became one of my favorite g/t stories, yet I rarely see people talking about it ;; it's an interactive g/t fic set in a post-apocalyptic world with giant enemies and friends. Although I don't like second person fics this one uses it in a very enjoyable way, and the decisions you take on the fic can lead you to different outcomes and hhhhh it's so good! I couldn't recommend it enough. Warning for some violent scenes depending on your choices, since you can die at any wrong decision you take in the fic. Link: https://www.deviantart.com/sweetintent/art/Thereafter-895462545 My Brother's Keeper by Bethelina: Although the story is incomplete, I'm glad I've read the 15 available chapters hhhhh it's a mix of fantasy with science fiction and there's so much mistery behind it. I kept progressing through the chapters wanting to know more and piecing things together aaaah it's very good, and the story itself is very creative! Link: https://www.deviantart.com/bethelina/art/My-Brother-s-Keeper-Prologue-210220610 Misplaced by BNZ: have you ever wanted to see kaiju battles but with giants? Then boy oh boy you'll be enjoying this aushssh I mean, it's not the entirety of the fic, that happens only when it's near the climax, but the buildup, the mystery, the world building hhhhh it felt like watching an anime in writing form. Luckily the first part of this fic is complete but the author never made a sequel :') in any case, it has a finished story. Warning for some mean giants? It feels a bit apocalyptic. Sci-fi genre and giant aliens let's gooo Link: https://www.deviantart.com/bnzg/art/Misplaced-Chapter-1-Part-1-532311231 A Hero's Heart by CDupre: This one is a personal favorite <3 it has my favorite tropes and lots of angst, a human-turned giant and a scientist trying to befriend him, very similar to one of my stories aaushshs too sad it went on hiatus and will prob never continue :') but nevertheless, it's a great read! Link: https://www.deviantart.com/cdupre/art/A-Hero-s-Heart-Chapter-1-617110704 Sized Up by Roryboreale: you know those dating app g/t tropes? This but ANGST TM and written to perfection. It's currently ongoing but it's sooo good, a mc scared of giants, an online friendship, what could go wrong? The writing here is SO GOOD, it's much similar to the writing you'd find in a novel, it has great g/t descriptions and I really enjoy the main character's development. Her other story, the Godking, also has fantastic writing, but Sized Up remains my favorite. Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/231967325-sized-up Anyway, for more g/t fic/art recs check out my favorites on DeviantArt aussjsj link here: https://www.deviantart.com/coffehbeans/favourites

#coffeh asks #coffeh answers #coffeh rambles #g/t #g/t community #g/t discussion #story #writing #ask game #I'm still accepting asks!

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emphasisonthehomo · 3 years

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DUNE (2021) MOVIE REVIEW

Costuming is fucking great. Very Into it. I love me some shapeless sacks and draped fabric. 9/10!

Lots of weird concrete looking brutalist architecture? Idk I haven’t studied buildings. They were fugly. 5/10!

The desert is beautiful, I will fight you if you disagree. 10/10!

Hans Zimmer went the fuck off, very enjoyable soundtrack. 7.5/10!

No Visible Cocks or Balls. 0/10!

A Lot of general sci-fi bullshit. Someone who has never read Dune needs to watch the movie and lemme know if they were able to understand it. 6/10!

Fight scenes were dynamic and relatively easy to follow, quite a bit of fun blade work and hand to hand combat. 6/10!

BAGPIPES. 10/10!

T*mothée Ch*lamet isn’t as insufferable as he could be, though there’s a lot of close ups of him making uncomfortable faces. 4/10!

Very heavy on the mouse imagery, so they’re really leaning in on that early. The mice were cute though. 6/10!

Oh, Worm? 100/10!

I mean the entire plot is Magic White Boy Arrives and Frees The Downtrodden and Mysterious Brown Desert People from the Colonial Overlords Exploiting Their Home’s Natural Resources. So there’s also that. 0/10!

We’ve Also Got Magic White Boy As the Prophesied Chosen One. 0/10!

Magic White Boy as the special Wizard that can do cool shit that only the dangerous and manipulative Evil Lady Witches can do. 0/10!

Eugenics plays a crucial roll in the plot. 0/10!

There’s issues with the source material. I’m sure you get the point.

OVERAL: 5/10!*

*Worm stats have been excluded, as they are an outlier.

#aron's opinonion #dune

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ladyloveandjustice · 3 years

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Wonder Egg Priority: Post-Mortem Spoiler-riffic Thought Dump (Repost)

Since I accidentally deleted the old post, might as well!

Quickest Summary: After her friend commits suicide, Ai Ohto enters a world where she’s promised if she protects the souls of other teenage girl suicide victims from the monsters that embody the horrors that drove them to their deaths, her friend will come back to life. During her journey, she meets three other girls fighting to save their loved ones and begins to form a bond with them.

Yeah so. This show. Sure had potential. The subject matter was dense (self harm, suicide, abuse, marginalization, transphobia, corrective rape, sexual assault, mental illness are just the beginning of the list of issues depicted), the animation was beautiful, and I’m someone who truly loves stories where one wrestles with symbolic and fantastical representations of social and psychological issues, who loves a magical twist on heavy struggles, it was catnip for me initially. The issue of suicide/depression/trauma/suicidal ideation and how it interacts with girlhood and adolescence is something that really hits close to home for me. It was clear from the beginning the show had so much potential- the system run by these creepy robot guys exploiting girls trauma and convincing them if they racked up enough wins like a video game they can, y’know, undo suicide is a fascinatingly fraught and rich set up that could have the potential to say powerful thing about the social systems that entrap us, Utena-style. It was also clear that the show had potential to fall apart under too many ideas and horribly mishandle the heavy subject matter and end up being another story by that enforces harmful myths and stereotypes about girls. BOY HOWDY GUESS WHICH ONE IT CHOSE.

The show has some genuinely powerful moments in early episodes (I’d say episode 7 was is maybe where you’d want to stop if you wanted to watch the show and get some enjoyment out of it) and the girls it introduces were all immediately fascinating and had some fantastic moments and the potential to be such great characters- unfortunately, it squandered pretty much all of that by the end of the show, when it introduced a brand new antagonist and a whole host of sci-fi concepts at the last minute with no space or ability to actually explore any of it. (A ROBOT IS SUPPOSEDLY MAKING GIRLS COMMIT SUICIDE Y’ALL IM SERIOUS). The girls who’d made progress on their character arcs were all abruptly retraumatized in a way that felt cruel and didn’t serve the story because again, no time to explore it!

Importantly, one of the central driving mysteries of the show- why Ai’s friend committed suicide- had the most disgusting, insulting answer it was possible to have. I’m not going to bother to dance around it- we had a teacher who was framed extremely creepily the entire show. He crossed definite lines- he drew paintings of his female students and submitted them to art competitions and drew a picture of Ai, in particular, AS AN ADULT WOMAN (???), with the title ‘latent heat’ (which is as one reviewer put it is the absolute worst thing he could have called it my soul wants to leave my body), and told her she would be hot like her mom (who he was dating) when she grew up. Those aren’t even red flags okay, that’s like….like…Akio Ohtori’s red car has pulled up in the station (I’m just making Utena references to cope shhh).

Ai’s central conflict was she had a crush on Sawaki but also was suspicious he might be a creep who did something to her friend Koito to contribute to her suicide. The conclusion is, nope, Koito is actually KER-AY-ZY and was in love with Sawaki and when he rejected her she falsely accused him of raping her while threatening to jump to her death and but OOPS that silly girl slipped and died! Oh and she’d totally done this before, driving another man to suicide with a false accusation, because this show supposedly exploring the issues of teenage girls is officially pivoting to “yeah but what about the adult men they’re the REAL victims of those malevolent fifteen year olds” now.

Of course we get this all from Mr. Sawaki, Koito doesn’t get a voice or to tell her side of the story here, because who the fuck cares about that I guess! We just accept Sawaki’s word- Ai doesn’t question it, Koito doesn’t get to say anything because she got amnesia or whatever when she got bought back to life and Ai can’t talk to her and Ai also specifically says she was wrong for being suspicious of a teacher made of red flags. I cannot overemphasize how fucked it is that this show is essentially saying young girls who get bad vibes from adult men (or hey, adults in general but this show only cares about men!) shouldn’t like, listen to themselves and be cautious. What a truly dangerous message to send.

(Also, if Koito made such a fuss, why did Ai never hear about it when she got back to school? It should have been pretty obvious whether she fell vs jumped to onlookers if Sawaki could apparently tell, why did no one say that to Ai? And when he was dating her mom did Sawaki bother to mention “oh yeah your daughter’s best friend, who died, you know the reason she’s a traumatized shut in right now, well she accused me of rape and then that’s why she fell to her death but I promise i did not rape her also she totally fell she didn’t jump :) I did hug her once which was definitely inappropriate considering what I apparently knew of her history but im a nice guy i swear :) anyway I’m so down to date you and be part of your family I’m sure it will help your daughter recover this a great idea”. Imagine a mother listening to that story and being like “yeah this is fine”.

In the Anifem podcast covering this trashfire, Cy Clewis, who taught in Japan, mentions how when she was teaching there, she heard of a teacher who was caught recording elementary school girls in the bathroom, and he didn’t even lose his teaching license, he just could no longer teach in that city. In a world where these kind things happen, where men still easily escape consequences, THIS is the story show told to tell, and I just want to emphasize how fucked that is.

So yeah, I could talk about other aspects of the show, (the way characters like Momoe and Kaoru in particular are handled is something I encourage you to seek out trans takes on, listening to the anifem podcast is a good start! But hey, at least this picture is super cute I’ll always like it:

LET YOUR FLAG FLY MY GUY)

But does it really matter. That one issue pretty much represents how hard the show fell apart and how utterly it fails in caring about its teen girl characters (plus two teen trans boys) and the reality of teen suicide, how utterly it falls apart in both emotional and narrative logic. I’m tired, so the only other thing I’ll say about I find interesting about this show is it COULD be a study in directors, writers and animators clashing. Nojima, the writer, went on record saying he truly DOES believe teen girls don’t commit suicide for the “logical’ reasons men do and are more impulsive (i know, i hope he steps on a lego, DON’T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB AND GO INTO PSYCHOLOGY), yet the director might not. The animators framing Sawaki as super creepy (Atelier emily goes into it very well) and including a lot of depth to a clumsy story may also be them either having different ideas or actively disagreeing with the writer’s vision.

And let’s not ignore how the show was a disaster for it’s poor animators and it’s possible staff may have even been hospitalized. I should mention this was a 13 episode anime with two recap episodes (one of them being 25 minutes of the 45 minute special that was released three months after episode 12).

Basically, the egg is on everyone’s face, and I feel so sorry for everyone involved (except Nojima because he’s pissed me off). I hope things get better for the anime industry and future ambitious projects like this value the health of the staff and stick their landing.

#wonder egg priority #reviews #my reviews #anime overview #winter 2021 anime

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c-is-for-circinate · 3 years

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So as close as I am to fully escaping Hades for the first time, I figure I might take this opportunity to write down a couple of things I'm scared of from this ending. The story is so good so far! But I have seen good stories before! And there are patterns, right, patterns it's so easy for even good stories to fall into, so yeah, I have fears, and they mostly come down to Hades himself.

(Yep, this one got long again! People seem to be enjoying my game-reaction rambles, so, for your enjoyment under the cut: themes of separation and reunion, predictions for what Zagreus is the god of, and a whole lot of discussion of familial abuse dynamics, how they're depicted in fiction, and the work it takes to change them in real life. Stay warned! Stay safe!)

(ALSO, I still haven't made it past the first couple of chambers in the Temple of Styx, so no spoilers in the reblogs/comments please! Yes, even though the whole post is me going on about predictions and hopes and concerns about the path the story might take. I WILL GET THERE SOON.)

It has been really interesting watching some of the stuff the game is doing with themes of parting and reunion, and how that corresponds to life and death. So many of our social links are about reuniting estranged loved ones: Chaos and Nyx, Eurydice and Orpheus, Patroclus and Achilles. Hades is estranged from Olympus, Persephone left. And every time we leave, or try to leave, it is both an attempt at a parting (and Meg and Than are so hurt by that goodbye, or lack thereof) and an attempt at a reunion with our mother. Every time we die it's a reunion, every time we die it's fun, it's great, we get to go back home and check in with all of our friends and be impressed by whoever made Employee Of The [Timeperiod] and sell fish to the cook and put down yet more rugs. (My Zagreus has something of a rug addiction. What can you do.)

It's at the point where I feel pretty secure in stating that Zagreus is going to discover eventually that he is both life/death/rebirth god, and god of partings and reunions. Both halves of both of those things. People leave each other when they die and re-find their loved ones in death; you go away from one group of people to come back to another; you have to depart to return, and I really think that's where we're going to end up with Zagreus. He's going to reunite his various friends with their loved ones, he's probably going to restore communications between Hades and Olympus and even Persephone, he's going to reunite with his mom, and he's going to come back to the Underworld before he leaves to see everyone up top all over again. And of course the vehicle for all of this coming and going is death, because death is the ultimate departure and reuniter. (This is absolutely a religious concept containing a whole bunch of "oh hey our culture has a lot of Christian influence, doesn't it", Greek trappings aside, but that's fine, it's a game made in 2018 not 300 BC, these things happen. They keep calling the Underworld 'hell' and 'infernal'. It's all good.) Of course he's a cthonic god. Of course he bleeds, because you have to bleed in order to die, and Zagreus has to die again and again and again. That's his whole thing.

Thing is, though, looking at those themes, I am also continually aware of the fact that some partings are for a really good reason. Some partings should not end in reunion.

Yes, of course this is about Hades the abusive dad. I have been talking about Hades the abusive dad basically non-stop since I started playing this game, where did you think this post was going.

There are a few things I'm nervous about, separate but related, and at the core it all comes down to, I'm not okay with it if we learn why Hades got to be this way, and Zagreus forgives him as we-the-audience are meant to do, and Hades promises to do better, and nothing concrete about the situation is forced to change. Actual, meaningful, practical, logistical, non-hypothetical non-metaphorical change, not just for Zagreus but for Hades himself.

Because I know how this story tends to go, in fiction. Fictional abusive parents (especially in fantasy/sci-fi stories) tend to come in two types: 'coerced their offspring into actual murder with a side of physical abuse and optional unethical lab experimentation', or 'this was here to create character conflict, we didn't mean for it to read as actually abusive, this parent just has flaws to make them a good character, we swear!' Hades isn't the first type--we have never once seen Hades strike his son, or anybody, or even come out from behind his desk--which means that the fear is, always, always, in every piece of fiction, that he's the second. That the writers are going to decide that the right response to his abuses is remorse, forgiveness, and one really good conversation. That they don't realize it's abuse in the first place.

And, like. They have to know, right? They have to. They can't have done this by accident. (Sometimes, writers get so close by accident.) They can't have done so well at drawing out this situation simply by going, 'well, people are meant to fear this god, so they'd probably react like this, and I guess based on what I've seen in other stories or vague acquaintances they'd then do this,' and never put the name on the situation. Every single time we leave to the tune of a Hades word-flash, he's being dismissive, insulting, and sometimes downright cruel. He is cruel. They have to know!!!

But oh boy have I been consuming media for a lot of years, and oh boy have I run into a lot of writers who don't know.

Reconciliation is such a loaded word, but stories about dysfunctional families really do love it. Stories based around themes of reunion are primed for it. And of course, it's nice, it ties a happy ending off with a sweet little bow, everyone gets to be with the people they love and the family is safe and nobody gets hurt, but so rarely have I seen stories that show the actual work required to rebuild those relationships in a realistic or meaningful way. So rarely do stories trying to build that happy ending actually let the victim of abuse set and maintain boundaries. The character never gets to actually just cut the damn ties to the thing that hurt them. The character so rarely even gets to be safe.

And it's so hard in this game specifically, because "THERE IS NO ESCAPE", because every single thing about this game says that the story's not over when Zagreus gets to the surface, that no matter what he's going to have to come back. It's so hard, because this is a game about reunions. I am not going to get an ending where the abused kid trying to flee his toxic home and abusive dad actually gets to leave and stay gone, not in this one. And that hurts (I have watched and supported and done my best to help multiple real-life friends get the fuck out of homes like that, and stay gone, I have seen how hard it is, how complicated, how awful, and there are never stories for that), but I can live with it, if I get an ending where Zagreus is at least safe. Where things change. Where they really change.

Which is why I need actual, concrete, material changes in the logistics and power structure of the Underworld for this ending to be okay. Understanding why Hades is Like That doesn't cut it. Remorse doesn't cut it! Because look, even if Hades wants to do better, even if he admits he's at fault and tries to be better, he is still set up in a position as an all-powerful tyrant, and trying to become a better person is hard. There is nobody around who can keep him in check when he starts backsliding, which he will. Even if he doesn't want to, he will.

Because people are people, and it's really difficult to break patterns! Especially if everything around them stays the same. Hades is going to slip at some point, be cruel, be callous, be tyrannical, no matter how much of an effort he's making. Not to mention, it is STRESSFUL to face your own crimes and improve, it sucks, it feels bad. And what do habitual abusers do when they feel bad? What's the only coping mechanism Hades appears to have established for dealing with his own shit? That's right, it's inflicting suffering on everyone else around him. (This is why it doesn't really matter what circumstances drove Hades to act this way, why it can't matter--I believe that he is suffering, but he copes with that suffering by inflicting additional suffering on everyone around him, everyone who relies on him, and that's still true no matter what made him feel bad to begin with.) So then we just get a great old guilt-->lashing out-->more guilt-->more lashing out merry-go-round of abuse even as Hades is trying to change. That's how these things work. And yes, change is possible, improvement is absolutely possible, but the environment needs to change first. The system that enables and rewards Hades for acting this way can't stay in place. Things need to actually change, with people who are around to support Hades in his growth and also check his power, people who have power of their own to stop him. And however it happens, for this story with this protagonist with these goals to feel like a happy ending, Zagreus needs to be safe.

It would be okay, though a little disappointing, if those changes were mostly based in magic and fate and, idk, divine mind-control. (This story has been so grounded in actual human dynamics that a fantastical solution to a realistic problem would feel like a letdown, but if it actually solved the problem I'd be okay with it, more or less.) It would be okay, though a little disappointing, if the responsibility for bringing Hades to heel fell upon Zagreus and Persephone, if the two family members who he hurt badly enough that they felt the need to run away from him entirely now had to shoulder the burden of helping him fix himself. (There are definitely ways to write that dynamic better and ways to write it worse, and I think I trust these writers to land on the 'better' side of the scale, but I still don't love the implications.) I think I'd be pretty into it if Hades took a vacation off to Olympus to Work Out His Shit with his own family, while a coalition of Meg, Nyx, Thanatos, Zagreus, and Queen Persephone took over running the Underworld in his absence. I think we might end up getting some combination of those things. I'm hopeful. I think these writers might know what they've written. I think they might have a sense for what it'll take to fix.

But yeah, I'm nervous. (Nervous enough that I might switch to God Mode just to get through, combat has started getting really tedious instead of fun, I want to know what happens next, and this is a game and there is no shame in making it more fun for myself by making the boring parts a little quicker and easier.) I've seen so many stories go wrong. This one has done so much to earn my trust. We'll see if it breaks.

#Hades game #Hades spoilers #driveby meta attack #C plays stuff #I have so much hope!!!!~!#I have so much fear!!!!!#DO NOT TELL ME WHAT THE ANSWER IS GOING TO BE!!!!!

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animebw · 3 years

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Oh hey, did you hear we’ve got a new season of anime airing? Wild how these things come and go. Considering how many shows I’m gonna be watching, I figured I’d give a quick rundown of first impressions now that most first episodes have aired. Maybe you’ll be inspired to check out something you never even heard about!

2.43 Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team: Looks like Haikyuu by way of Stars Align. Animation and directing is excellent, possibly very gay? I dig it. Just hope the melodrama doesn’t entirely choke it to death.

Attack on Titan Final Season: I don’t think Mappa is quite as up to the task as I want them to be, but this is still pretty fucking awesome. Can’t believe we’re almost at the end of an era.

Cells at Work Season 2: Whoever decided to air season 2 alongside its spinoff was pretty dumb.

Cells at Work Code Black: Because the spinoff is actually kinda better and has actual emotional stakes.

Horimiya: Funny and sweet rom-com that feels very true to the teenage experience. Lovable characters, great direction, looking forward to more. Just keep that teacher offscreen as much as possible.

Mushoku Tensei (Jobless Reincarnation: First isekai in a while with promise. Gorgeous animation and art style, feels like a genuine fantasy for once. Needs to start being way less creepy ASAP, tho.

Otherside Picnic: Proof that great direction can compensate for bad animation. Cool urban fantasy sci-fi horror gimmick, and I’m told it’s gay, so this is right up my alley.

Quintessential Quintuplets Season 2: Somehow, the new studio is resulting in a worse production than the first season. Didn’t think that was possible, but here we are.

Scar on the Praeter: Shockingly more enjoyable than you’d expect from GoHands. Probably nothing special, but could be a fun pretty-boys schlocky action series with slick animation.

SK8 the Infinity: WATCH. THIS. FUCKING. SHOW.

So I’m a Spider, So What?: Will entirely depend on how long it takes for Aoi Yuki’s performance to get grating. Not much to recommend otherwise.

Vlad-Love: I have no idea what’s going on in Mamoru Oshii’s hyperactive slapstick lesbian vampire romcom, but I think I love it. Officially starts airing on Valentine’s Day, so mark your calendars.

Yuru Camp Season 2: Surprised by how much I missed this show. First episode was very comf, looking forward to more.

I’ll also be watching Wonder Egg and the new seasons of Dr. Stone and Slime Isekai, while I’ll later watch the new Re:Zero, Beastars and Promised Neverland in full binge-watches. Look forward to that!

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dappercritter · 3 years

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Godzilla vs Kong: Brutally Honest Thoughts

(Took me long enough, eh? Depending on home video releases be like that.)

So first things first, I have a confession to make: I spoiled the movie before I watched it. I was impatient and they had only announced an HBO Max premiere in the states and a theatrical run in Canada at the time. Afterward, I got heads-up from a friend and immersed myself in the opinions of those lucky enough to see it early. I’m just saying that I have some preconceived opinions that I’m sticking to.

That said, Godzilla vs Kong turned out to be more fun than I expected! But you already knew that. Everyone did. The two kings of movie monsters had their rematch and this time it was with glorious Hollywood SFX powering it this time.

The human story was fun but it’s clear they stopped trying at this point. Team Kong stole my heart, especially Jia. Team Godzilla (although the Conspiracy Crew would be a more fitting term since they spend more time chasing down mysteries than trying to back or understand Godzilla) was more fun than I expected and their dynamic was surprisingly enjoyable. Bernie is actually kind of funny, it's nice to see Madison acting more assertive, and Josh was fine--he was the only sane man of the bunch but he was also the butt of the jokes. Still, all the hardcore conspiracy jokes got old fast and it feels off seeing the daughter of two scientists turn into an edgy conspiracy crackpot. Why not an edgy science major?

Team Apex are fun villains, especially Walter Simmons who's a great megalomaniacal CEO type, but Ren Serizawa is a joke. I like his actor's performance but he's just another footnote. Nobody bats an eye at his last name, although the only heroes he interacts with are Nathan Lind and he just misses Team Godzilla. He really could have just been any other villain, but instead, they had to sully Serizawa’s legacy further while robbing a good actor of some interesting material. (As is, it turns out he was just an egotistical jerk with daddy issues--an easy puzzle to solve on day one--after all...)

However, I still cannot and will not approve of the fact that somebody thought it would be a good idea to make the heroes of a sci-fi story into hardcore conspiracy theorists in this day and age. Likewise, I’m not a huge fan of how they essentially made the Hollow Earth into its own universe complete with a crazy portal and an environment with its own laws of physics, nor am I totally crazy about the huge leap in technology that was made between this and KOTM, or G’14 for that matter.

The monsters as awesome as they are, are the biggest mixed bag in the show.

Kong is at his best in ages, and while I am all for the new heroic warrior character that Legendary have crafted and I acknowledge that making him a worthy opponent for their god-tier Godzilla was going to be a hurdle, I think they did a splendid job. Seeing Kong using agility and acrobatics was a glorious sight to behold, and something about Kong becoming a tool-user and weapon wielder just feels right. It’s a far better demonstration of Kong as a “thinking animal” (*wink, wink*).

I’m much less thrilled about their treatment of his greatest opponent ever. After everything they’ve done to build up Godzilla as the incredible force of neutral good fighting to maintain balance and all the build up to ancient rivalry debating back to a great Titan war--even going as far as putting his name in front Kong’s this time!-- they’ve reduced Godzilla back to glorified bully for Kong. He only gets the minimum amount of sympathy from the cast of his movie before they go off to deal with the conspiracy plot or focus on Kong and the Hollow Earth. Worse still, he is somehow more powerful and more aggressive than ever for a good chunk of the movie which leads to an outcome I’m sorry to say we all saw coming. Somehow, I suspect that the reason behind this was how Wingard cited Godzilla vs. Mothra, vs. Destoryah, and Shin-Godzilla as influences for the monsters scale and story, which while cool and all, are all movies where he was played up as a mostly stoic antagonist rather than a three-dimensional character like Kong. (Though ironically vs. Destoroyah and Shin did a better job of making Godzilla feel more sympathetic and in both of them he was a walking nuclear reactor meltdown.)

Due to the unfortunate time constraints of the three-way deal between Toho, WB, and Universal at the time this was in production, Kong was unable to secure a proper sequel that could develop his skillset like Godzilla’s did. Nevermind the fact the filmmakers completely surrendered to the “nothing matters but the monsters” mentality that a chunk of the fanbase has been spouting since this universe unofficially kicked off almost 10 years ago. (Sidenote: Oh god, I’m turning in an old fart already.) As a result, the movie trips over itself trying to set up Godzilla and Kong’s rivalry as well as building up Kong as a worthy opponent to Godzilla while expanding on their shared lore, and as a result countless plot points set up in in the previous movie and tie-in movie are thrown out the window. I’m sorry to say but in spite of all hopes and illusions of grandeur, it’s safe to this damn thing is a Kong movie with Godzilla as the bad guy.

...at least until HE shows up. Yup, Mechagodzilla. The biggest spoiled twist of the centuries steals the show so the movie can pull a Dawn of Justice. But! It does it much better than the fractured DCEU’s most controversial entry ever could. Mechagodzilla’s inclusion gets a decent amount of build up thanks to Team Godzilla/the Conspiracy Crew, and when he shows up, does he make an impression! At first, I wasn’t sure how to feel about his inclusion or his design, but I’ve come to like this one. He’s basically a kaiju terminator built in Godzilla’s image made purely out of heavy machinery piloted by the best Ghidorah head. It’s a jarring change of pace compared to previous MechaG’s but it grows on you after a while. With the abundance of weaponry stuffed into him, he feels like a fitting update of the original killing machine, and even if his inclusion feels like an easy way out of the big showdown, it’s fun to see him played as a literal colossal heel for the kings to team up against. Not to mention he looks shockingly good with those red highlights. However, one still can’t help but wonder how and why he was made in this universe, or how he feels like pure heavy machinery one minute and then an extra-large Ultron unit the next.

As for the the big throwdowns we’ve all been waiting for... well, we’re still in the mixed bag deparment. While the fights are all exciting and excellently choreographed, and benefit from some more eclectic lighting and cinematograph, I’m sorry to say that as far as the rematch of the century goes they dropped the ball on this one.

Don’t get me wrong, the fights are all great in their own ways, but there’s a drastic change in the feeling of weight and power with the monsters. Godzilla, Kong, and even Mechagodzilla all feel strangely floaty in most of their fights. One moments they feel like true behemoths shaking the very earth with every movement and then it’s like they’re in Godzilla Unleashed, running, jumping, and throwing each other around with speed that feels that almost makes you wonder if the Hollow Earth’s gravity inversion stuff is leaking out into the world. While it’s all perfectly cool, you can’t help but wonder how Kong is able to leap between aircraft carriers and buildings, when Godzilla got the ability to blow a hole through the Earth itself, or how a colossal machine is able to move so nimbly or why it has to be flashing blue all the time.

It’s fascinating and fun but you just can’t help but wonder how we got from almost posthuman disaster and war movies exploring how we’re at the mercy of the ancient almost mythical forces beyond our comprehension, we’ve found ourselves smack dab in the middle of Bayformers meets Jurassic World levels of Hollywood absurdity where anything and everything can and will happen in the name of getting to the monster fights. Although I can’t say I’m surprised given the director’s take on Death Note made some questionable choices with it’s take on the infamous cast while still coming up with some genuinely inspired choices. Still, all things considered we could have gotten worse compared to ther cinematic universes made by WB and Universal.

As for some misc. thoughts to close up this rambling mess:

-The soundtrack is fantastic. A great continuation of the feel of Skull Island’s mixtape with some truly wonderful picks. Special mention goes to the opening and ending songs, and they GOT AN ELVIS PRESLEY SONG IN HERE! YES!!! The three kings of pop culture together at last!

-While this movie didn’t need to be any more overstuffed, it would have been nice if the rest of the Titans didn’t disappear entirely from this movie. I get that Godzilla: Dominion already explained what happened to them all more or less, but it really is a missed oppurtunity that we never got to see another Titan war. Or Rodan attacking Kong to avenge his pterosaur bretheren from days long past. Speaking of which...

-“Save Mothra” jokes be damned, Mothra would have been a welcome gues star, not just to help break up the big fight, but to show off Godzilla’s softer, more protective side. And yes, I want more Mothzilla. Shut up, we deserve it.

-Boy, Monarch sure does a whole lot of nothing up-top, huh?

-The cinematography is a great update but there’s a little too much neon lighting, especially in the Apex HQ and the Hollow Earth throne room. It feels like they’re trying just a little too hard to sell the more futuristic, Hollywood sci-fi feel.

-The score is... great but not that great. Of course, I’ve always had mixed feelings about Tom Holkenburg (AKA Junkie XL)’s music. I liked Kong’s themes, but they REALLY dropped the ball with Godzilla’s theme. Mechagodzilla’s works really well as long you ignore that it’s just Godzilla’s theme in this movie with an ominious choir added in.

-The new Hollow Earth creatures are all perfectly fine. Actually, I thought they were another highlight! Especially the Warbats, Hellhawks, and Doug the Titanus Foetodon Man.

-I want to do a release the extended cut campaign but I don’t think any of us have the energy for that s**t anymore.

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